Municipal Judges Disciplined for Modern-Day Debtors’ Prisons

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At the forefront in Alabama the last few years are municipal fines and the private companies that often collect them. Here’s the issue: a resident gets a parking ticket. But if he or she is poor and can’t scrape up enough money to pay it, fines or penalties increase. It’s even led to jail time in some cases. But disciplinary action against judges suggest the judicial system in Alabama is moving away from these tactics. Alabama Media Group columnist John Archibald talks about the issue.

 

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