Class Action Alleges Corinth, MS Operates ‘Modern-Day Debtors’ Prison’

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Two plaintiffs have put their names on a proposed class action lawsuit in which they allege the municipal court in Corinth, Mississippi operates what amounts to a “modern-day debtors’ prison,” which the case says comes from the locale’s practice of jailing impoverished individuals who cannot afford to pay bail or fines. The 25-page lawsuit, filed against both Corinth and its municipal court judge, says an individual arrested on a misdemeanor or municipal charge in Corinth will not be released from jail unless he or she pays a monetary amount “predetermined by a bail schedule and without any consideration of ability to pay.”

Making matters worse, the complaint continues, is that Corinth allegedly does not bring arrested individuals before a judicial officer for an initial appearance until the next scheduled court date, which is one per week. 

“Thus, a person arrested for a misdemeanor or municipal offense may languish in jail for up to a week (or even longer if there is a holiday) before she has any opportunity to ask a judge to review her monetary conditions of release, and before a judge even determines whether there was probably cause for her arrest,” the lawsuit reads.

The cycle allegedly repeats when arrested individuals are given a fine that must either be paid in full or in part with a down payment. If an individual cannot pay up, the lawsuit says they are jailed again, with the fine increasing $25 per day it goes unpaid.

The case notes the plaintiffs were arrested for misdemeanor offenses at separate times in November and December 2017. One plaintiff was reportedly held in pretrial detention for more than 72 hours without an initial appearance before a judge. The second plaintiff, who the case says is wheelchair bound, was reportedly arrested for driving without insurance or a license and kept detained because he could not pay a $1,005 fine.