In cites withmore blacks-fines used more to squeeze revenue

[zarahan]

Who Pays for Government? Descriptive Representation and Exploitative Revenue Sources
Michael W. Sances
Hye Young You

Vanderbilt University
ONLINE: May 11, 2017


Abstract

We examine US city governments’ use of fines and court fees for local revenue, a policy that disproportionately affects black voters, and the connections between this policy and black representation. Using data on over 9,000 cities, we show that the use of fines as revenue is common and that it is robustly related to the share of city residents who are black. We also find that black representation on city councils diminishes the connection between black population and fines revenue. Our findings speak to the potential of descriptive representation to alleviate biases in city policy.

[zarahan]

Assorted right wing types rail against "big government" and the tyranny of
the "bureaucrats in Washington." But its SMALL government at local and state
levels that are most often oppressive.. The Civil Rights Movement showed this
in spades. The problem for Rosa Parks on the bus for example was not distant
"federal bureaucrats" but supposedly "more responsive" local "representatives.."
Below is a typical example.. Are there exceptions?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/20/ferguson-court-reform_n_6910924.html



As Reform Arrives In Ferguson, Neighboring Municipal Courts Stay Out Of The Spotlight
headshot
By Mariah Stewart
MICHAEL B. THOMAS via Getty Images

BERKELEY, Mo. — “How much will you be able to pay tonight?”

It’s Thursday night in Berkeley, Missouri, and about 75 people are seated on brown metal folding chairs in a wood-paneled room in a strip mall, near a daycare, a Hispanic community center and a tutoring center. The municipal court is in session, and an attorney filling in for the city’s part-time judge is in charge of helping the city collect money. “Pay as much as you can,” she tells one defendant, and asks another if the payment will be in full.

Media attention Thursday night was focused on the municipal court in Ferguson, where a state appeals court judge appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court effectively took over the city’s judicial system on an indefinite basis following a blistering report from the Justice Department that found the judge was in league with city officials to raise revenues. In Ferguson, newly appointed Judge Roy Richter lowered outstanding fines for defendants, as many of the city’s fines were much higher than those in other St. Louis County municipalities, and signaled he was looking to expand the city’s community service program to give defendants an alternative.

But here in Berkeley, a city of just over 9,000 residents that directly neighbors the larger city of Ferguson, municipal court continued without the hullabaloo. The term “community service” never came up. One man who declined to share his name was facing a $200 fine just for having an unlicensed vehicle parked in his yard, a fine he said he could not afford. When the acting judge, Felicia Ezell — an area lawyer who said she was filling in for the normal part-time judge — asked if he was going to pay his fine in full, the man said no and asked for a continuance.

The Justice Department report on Ferguson said the city should allow partial payments on money owed to the city. But in Berkeley, the judge refused to accept anything less than $50, and implied that defendants would be jailed if they didn’t come up with the money before their next court appearance.

One man who owed the city $300 was told that this month would be his last chance to try to get the money together. “I suggest you have a balance outside of your payment, because the judge is not going to issue another continuance,” Ezell told the man.

“I don’t have the money, but I will tomorrow when I get paid,” one woman who was in court on a speeding ticket told Ezell.

“OK, now you know we’ll be expecting to see you here tomorrow then,” Ezell replied.

The situation in Berkeley demonstrates just how difficult it will be to untangle the problems with municipal courts in St. Louis County, given the ingrained role that they play as revenue generators for small cities.

While the lack of diversity within the government in majority-black Ferguson has been cited as a source of many of the city’s problems, that hasn’t been part of the problem here in nearby Berkeley. The mayor, the entire city council, the police chief, the regular municipal judge and even Thursday’s acting municipal judge are all black, in this city where African-Americans make up 81 percent of the population.

But the city’s black representation hasn’t prevented it from using its court system as a significant revenue source. The city brought in more than $1 million through its courts in the fiscal year that ended in June 2013, and court fees make up nearly 11 percent of the city budget.

When an armed 18-year-old was shot by a Berkeley police officer here in December, Mayor Theodore Hoskins defended his city and tried to set it apart from its infamous neighbor.

“We are different from the city of Ferguson,” Hoskins said at the time.

In many ways, Berkeley is different. For one, its traffic stop data shows much different patterns than its neighbor. Fewer black drivers are stopped than would be expected given their percentage of the population, and officers actually stopped twice as many white drivers than would be anticipated based on their demographics, according to data published by the Missouri attorney general’s office.

But Berkeley still relied on ticketing to make up a significant part of its overall budget, and in 2010 even put up a speed camera along the highway, in contravention of state and county rules. The operation was eventually shut down by the highway department.

In Ferguson on Thursday, the new judge promised defendants they wouldn’t be jailed if they showed up in court, and a number of attorneys were on hand to observe the process. In Berkeley, just two defendants on Thursday were represented by lawyers. The acting municipal judge told one man challenging his case that he would have to come back on another night. Berkeley’s prosecutor, she said, wasn’t even there.

[zarahan]

Cash money justice... but hey! A basic parking ticket is no longer $102.
And the fine for failing to signal when turning is now only $92 - a $5 savings!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------




www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/new-judge-takes-over-in-ferguson/article_9a67b853-3b24-548f-8f5d-dfad6aa00d56.html
Political Fix - New judge takes over in Ferguson

By Stephen Deere and Walker Moskop St. Louis Post-Dispatch Mar 20, 2015 (…)


FERGUSON • The cosmetic changes were easy spot. For starters, the judge wore a robe, and when he looked up at defendants he let his glasses slide down his nose, giving the 64-year-old the aura of a sympathetic grandfather, not a plunderer of the poor.

In the first session since the Missouri Supreme Court took over Ferguson’s municipal court, Judge Roy L. Richter began on Thursday with a detailed overview of the state’s court system, and then announced he was lowering some of the fines.

A parking ticket was now $52, instead of $102.

Driving without insurance ticket was $177, instead of $377.

And a ticket for an improper turn would be $97 — $5 less than before.

But for most of the night it was tough to say whether the “extraordinary action” the Missouri Supreme Court had taken by placing Richter, of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, in charge of Ferguson’s court was having the desired effect.

It would have helped if you could have heard him. For much of the night he spoke with defendants at the bench, making it impossible for spectators to decipher what was being said.

Michael-John Voss, of Arch City Defenders, the law firm that sparked debate about St. Louis County’s municipal court system with a white paper in August, was unimpressed.

“It’s still a way of extracting money from poor people,” he said.

Ferguson’s previous judge, Ronald Brockmeyer, resigned more than 10 days ago in the aftermath of a Department of Justice report that depicted his court as functioning mainly as a revenue generator for the city and the police department as a collection agency.

Ferguson’s city manager, John Shaw, and police chief, Thomas Jackson, also resigned.

In addition to installing Richter, the Missouri Supreme Court has also re-assigned all of Ferguson’s cases to the circuit court, saying the move was intended “to help restore public trust and confidence in the Ferguson municipal court division.”

The court had 260 people on its docket, officials said, but only about 60 people showed up. It took Richter about an hour and a half to work his way through the cases. He did not allow the media to bring recording devices into the court room, but set up a camera at the bench to capture what he said. That video feed was streamed to media in the police department, a few blocks away.

But some in the courtroom, which was occupied overwhelmingly by African-Americans, weren’t even aware of the controversy surrounding the city’s justice system.

Javon Watson, 28, of St. Louis, said he hadn’t kept up with the news and didn’t know about the Department of Justice report.

He said he had received a speeding ticket in 2005 and accumulated hundreds of dollars in fines by failing to show up to court. He was there on Thursday only because police in another municipality arrested him in February on outstanding warrants in Ferguson.

When Watson stood before Richter, the judge told him there was little he could do because the judgment in Watson’s cases had already been made final.

“I can’t help you,” Richter said.

Watson still owed $737, and the court agreed to allow him to pay it in installments of $184.

Asked if he thought he was treated fairly, Watson shrugged and gave a half-hearted nod as he left the court room.

Rodney Robinson, 34, of St. Louis, gave Richter a better review.

Robinson said he had received two tickets for failure to register and driving without insurance, both of which he said he had now taken care of.

The court reduced both of the fines. He paid a total of $75.50.

“I can’t get mad,” Robinson said. “I did it.”

Anticipating that he’d have to pay much more, he had brought along $400 in cash.

“He was actually pretty cool,” Robinson said of Richter. “It seems like he’s being fair. Hopefully it’ll stay like that.”

Others grudgingly admitted that although they didn’t necessarily like it, their treatment was just, even if it was for fines more than a decade old.

Stephanie Hall, 45, of Bellefontaine Neighbors, received tickets for driving without a license and without vehicle registration in 2000.

“I just think it sucks,” she said. “People are already poor.”

In the end, she had to pay a total of $257 for two failure-to-appear charges and for driving a vehicle without registration. She acknowledged the penalties could have been worse. She was put on a payment plan.

“I take responsibility for what I did,” she said.

Missouri Supreme Court takes over cases in Ferguson; judge resigns

In a press release, the court announced the move was intended "to help restore public trust and confidence in the Ferguson municipal court division."

Gavel
Velda City sued in federal court over bail amounts

At issue is a set bail amount that the city requires defendants to pay before being released on municipal court charges. The fee is $350 for driving with a suspended license and $150 for most other ordinance violations.

Study on Ferguson court sent to Missouri Supreme Court


The report, released late Monday, comes three months after the state's top court wrested control of the court from the city. The move was prompted by a Justice Department probe that found deep problems within Ferguson’s police and court systems.

[zarahan]

Corrupt "justice"
- Is it "big government in Washington" or "the federal bureaucrats" that are
the problem, or allegedly kinder, gentler "more responsive" local regimes?
Per article:

"The report alleged that the Ferguson Municipal Court routinely began hearing cases
30 minutes before the scheduled start time, then locked the doors to the building five
minutes after the official start. As a result, those who arrived late faced an additional
charge for failing to appear... The Ferguson Municipal Court disposed of 24,532 warrants
and 12,018 cases in 2013, or about 3 warrants and 1.5 cases per household... "

www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-ferguson-missouri-court-fines-budget.html



Skyrocketing Court Fines Are Major Revenue Generator for Ferguson
Some say Ferguson's increasing reliance on court fines to fund its municipal operations may have contributed to its residents' distrust in law enforcement and government.
by Mike Maciag | August 22, 2014

Much has been made of the apparently poor police-community relations in Ferguson, Mo., where a confrontation with the police two weeks ago left 18-year old Michael Brown dead and sparked weeks of community unrest. But there are other less visible yet no less serious indicators of simmering conflict in Ferguson, say experts, including one buried in the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).

Ferguson's budget relies heavily on public safety and court fines that have skyrocketed in recent years. A review of Ferguson’s financial statements indicates that court fine collections now account for one-fifth of total operating revenue. The St. Louis suburb of about 21,000 residents took in more than $2.5 million in municipal court revenue last fiscal year, representing an 80 percent increase from only two years prior, when fines netted about $1.4 million.

While the media has focused largely on the police department’s testy relationship with the majority black community and the city’s shifting demographics, longstanding frustration with the municipal court system may have also contributed to the civil unrest, say some.
RELATED
Text Alert: St. Louis' Post-Ferguson Approach to Court Fines Cities Sue to Block Missouri's Ferguson-Inspired Court Reforms Without Ticket Revenues, St. Louis Area Having Trouble Funding Police After Ferguson, States Struggle to Limit Crippling Court Debt Ferguson Announces Major Court Changes

Brendan Roediger, an assistant professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law who supervises a local civil advocacy clinic, said practices of the local court system are a major driver of Ferguson residents’ distrust of government and law enforcement. Roediger described a court system in Ferguson and select areas of St. Louis that function primarily as a revenue generator. “They don’t want to actually incarcerate people because it costs money, so they fine them,” he said. “It appears to be a blatant money grab.”

From his time representing clients in Ferguson, Roediger estimates the court -- which holds three sessions each month -- heard 200 to 300 cases per hour some days.

The city’s most recent annual budget report attributed the sharp increase in fines to a “more concentrated focus on traffic enforcement” from both manned enforcement and the installation of traffic cameras. Red light cameras posted in three locations resulted in 5,318 tickets in fiscal year 2013, according to city records.

Ferguson’s financial documents depict a city increasingly reliant on fines to fund government operations. In all, fines and forfeitures accounted for 20 percent of the city’s $12.7 million operating revenue in fiscal year 2013, up from about 13 percent in 2011.

While there isn’t comprehensive national data on what percentage of municipal revenue is typically generated by court fines, Governing compiled financial data for other nearby municipalities in northern St. Louis County with at least 5,000 residents. Of 19 local governments with available CAFRs, Ferguson relies more on fines to fund government than all but two smaller jurisdictions.

Hazelwood, a neighboring town of about the same size, took in about $1.9 million, or 8.1 percent of its total general fund revenue. Fines and forfeitures accounted for just 2.5 percent of general fund revenue for the city of St. Louis in fiscal year 2013.



Jurisdiction

Fines and Forfeiture Revenue

Total General Fund Revenue

Share of General Fund Revenue

2010 Population


St. Ann $3,609,972 $9,115,012 39.6 13,020
St. John $1,126,763 $3,835,573 29.4 6,517
Ferguson $2,571,190 $12,746,894 20.2 21,203
Bellefontaine Neighbors $749,252 $4,918,310 15.2 10,860
City of Florissant $2,966,669 $23,120,332 12.8 52,158
City of Berkeley $1,047,536 $8,680,716 12.1 8,978
Creve Coeur $1,847,864 $16,365,796 11.3 17,833
Maryland Heights $2,077,689 $22,820,884 9.1 27,472
Jennings $679,787 $7,737,693 8.8 14,712
Hazelwood $1,919,022 $23,809,852 8.1 25,703
Overland $582,292 $8,695,835 6.7 16,062
Richmond Heights $763,523 $12,109,281 6.3 8,603
Black Jack $123,355 $2,621,186 4.7 6,929
Clayton $1,027,932 $21,761,741 4.7 15,939
Olivette $283,289 $7,046,302 4.0 7,737
Bridgeton $445,171 $12,887,494 3.5 11,550
St. Louis City $11,022,000 $441,426,000 2.5 319,294
University City $586,281 $26,639,562 2.2 35,371
St. Louis County $4,397,769 $341,291,336 1.3 998,954
NOTE: Data shown for jurisdictions in northern St. Louis County with populations of at least 5,000. Figures for Richmond Heights have been updated. Financial reports for Normandy and Dellwood were unavailable.

SOURCE: Municipalities' FY 2013 annual financial reports

In general, traffic fines tend to account for a larger share of revenue in smaller communities. State law, however, prohibits Missouri municipalities from collecting more than 35 percent of operating revenues from traffic fines and court costs, requiring excess money be turned over to the state Department of Revenue for schools.

If cities decide to ramp up traffic enforcement, they shouldn’t do so primarily to raise revenue, said Christine Cole, executive director of Harvard Kennedy School's criminal justice policy and management program. “It can put police in a difficult place because you then become reliant on that revenue,” she said.

Rather, any increase in enforcement must be clearly tied to public safety gains. It’s also equally crucial that city officials and law enforcement communicate such safety benefits to residents, Cole said.

It’s difficult to gauge the extent to which the increased enforcement and hefty fines added to Ferguson residents’ discontent in the years leading up to shooting death of Michael Brown. Legal advocates, though, argue that it helped foster negative perceptions of law enforcement and government in general.

ArchCity Defenders, a local legal and social advocacy firm, recently issued a scathing white paper that identified the Ferguson Municipal Court as one of the region’s most “chronic offenders.”

The Ferguson, Mo., City Hall, which houses the municipal court. (FlickrCC/Paul Sableman)

The group observed 60 municipal courts as part of a court watching program and interviewed defendants. Thomas Harvey, the group’s executive director, said clients felt they were exploited by local municipalities and targeted for being black. Many even expressed a desire to leave the area because of treatment by the justice system.

“It contributed to a distrust that is a contributing factor to the unrest now,” Harvey said.

The report alleged that the Ferguson Municipal Court routinely began hearing cases 30 minutes before the scheduled start time, then locked the doors to the building five minutes after the official start. As a result, those who arrived late faced an additional charge for failing to appear. The Ferguson court also limited access to hearings to only defendants and lawyers. Earlier this summer, the presiding judge of the St. Louis County Circuit Court sent a letter urging municipal judges and cities to open their courts to the public.

The Ferguson Municipal Court disposed of 24,532 warrants and 12,018 cases in 2013, or about 3 warrants and 1.5 cases per household, according to the report.

The court system, Harvey said, never anticipated the effects it would have on poorer residents’ lives. When defendants can’t afford legal counsel or to pay off fines, it hampers their ability to take advantage of job training and other programs. “If you’re already living on the margins, the consequences of these warrants and failure to pay the fines are disproportionate to the infraction,” Harvey said.

Residents’ encounters with police and the court system greatly shape their perceptions of both law enforcement and government, said Darrel Stephens, who directs the Major Cities Chiefs, an association of police executives. People aren’t going to be happy about receiving a ticket. But, Stephens said, they’ll be less likely to loathe police if they understand why they were ticketed and are treated with respect.

“The contact they have with people in the community and during traffic stops is critically important to how people feel,” he said.

[kel]

Turrible.......