Mississippi town under fire for implementing shocking debtors' prison

Homeless man imprisoned over 30 days for failure to pay fines related to his homelessness

Thirty-six-year-old mother of two, Qumotria Kennedy, from Biloxi Mississippi was arrested and spent five days in a holding cell for her inability to pay $400 in court fines.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Kennedy worked at a baseball field in downtown Biloxi and earned well below the poverty level with an income of under $9,000 a year. Despite her below-poverty income, Judicial Corrections Services Inc. (JCS) informed her she was required to pay the fee in its entirety - as well as a $40 monthly fee for their services - or she would be placed in jail.

With her insufficient income, it was unsurprising that Kennedy was unable to pay her fines; so when she was a passenger in a vehicle that was allegedly pulled over for running a stop sign, her name pinged an arrest warrant and she was placed in a holding cell for five days.

She told the Guardian, "It was filthy. The toilet wasn't working, there was no hot water and I was put in the cell with a woman who had stabbed her husband, so I was scared the entire time. For the first three days, they wouldn't even let me tell my kids where I was."

A class action lawsuit was lodged on Wednesday with a federal district court in Gulfport against probation company JCS, the city of Biloxi, the Biloxi police department and the municipal court system. The filing, which was drawn up by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), claims the agencies conspired to create a modern debtors' prison to take from the poor.

The city released a statement saying, "We believe the ACLU is mistaken about the process in Biloxi. The court has used community service in cases where defendants are unable to pay their fines." 

Despite claims of community service sentences in lieu of payment, a 51-year-old homeless man named Richard Tillery was forced to spend thirty days in jail for failure to pay fines for charges related to his homelessness. 

Joseph Anderson was considered physically disabled following four heart attacks but was still arrested and jailed for seven nights after failing to pay a $170 speeding ticket.

Kennedy, Tillery and Anderson are three of several plaintiffs in Kennedy v City of Biloxi.
Debtors' prisons were abolished in the United States and were explicitly outlawed by the US Supreme Court in 1983. It is considered a violation of the 14th amendment that ensures equal protection under the law. Debtors' prisons were originally established to intimidate the poor to give more than they had.

Following her stint in jail, Kennedy lost her job for failing to appear and she currently works only one or two days each week. A judge at the municipal court placed Kennedy on a 12-month probation but she is still required to pay $40 in monthly fees. She currently owes $1,251 and unless she pays the fees soon, she will be imprisoned again.

"The probation person told me if I don't pay it, I will be arrested again sooner or later. I don't believe this is right. I just hope other people in the world don't get treated like I have."

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