How the justice system criminalizes the poor — and funds itself in the process
“‘The misdemeanor system criminalizes poverty.’ When the Justice Department issued its report on the Ferguson, Mo., police department in the wake of the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, the nation was shocked to learn just how the Missouri town and its courts criminalized poverty by financing their operations through levies against residents facing misdemeanor charges and then jailing them for an inability to pay. An act that incurred more fines, jail time and misfortune.”