The systemic injustice that underlies Ferguson’s rage

The Ferguson, Mo., city council last week took its first official actions following the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Among them: easing various municipal fines and fees.

Yes, fees. Though the recent unrest in Ferguson brought national attention to the use of force by local police, much of the underlying disquiet can also be traced to a system of fines, fees and punishments relating to petty crimes such as traffic violations. Such fines would be annoyances for many Americans. But the system can trap poor people who can’t pay tickets or make bond to get out of jail.

An investigation by The Washington Post’s Radley Balko recently found that some of St. Louis County’s patchwork of tiny municipalities — created over the last century as whites moved out of the inner city — fund significant portions of their budgets by issuing citations for petty crimes and sanctioning those who fail to pay. Though officials claim other motivations, these fees help municipalities finance police forces, courts and other government overhead.

The investigation detailed how poor residents ticketed for things such as speeding, disturbing the peace or violating “saggy pants” ordinances end up avoiding court because they fear that their inability to pay will land them in jail. They then end up behind bars because they did not show up. In some municipalities, active arrest warrants far outnumber residents.

Judges in these small municipalities don’t hear cases every day, so those unlucky enough to get locked up at the wrong time might spend days in jail for an expired tag. That means missing work or school, compounding people’s inability to pay, which is what caused their problem in the first place. Those part-time judges, meanwhile, can also be part-time prosecutors in the town down the road, or private attorneys practicing a few municipalities away, or both, creating a web of conflicting relationships and interests within the region.

Municipal officials argue that the people in trouble violated the law and skipped earlier opportunities to clear up their records, allowing punishments to escalate. We doubt, however, that would be as common if the system were clearer. Missouri first should demand that its rules and regulations, such as open-meetings laws for court proceedings, be followed. Then its leaders should look at consolidating St. Louis County’s many tiny towns into larger, more sensible units. Even then, the municipalities would have to work together to dispel impressions that lacking the money to pay a fine or fee can land someone in jail. Ferguson’s initial efforts at reform also offer a useful, if highly incomplete, model for other municipalities. The city council rolled out several changes, capping the town’s reliance on fines and fees to finance the municipal budget and creating a monthlong window in which residents could get rid of their arrest warrants.

Of course there should be traffic laws. Of course there should be enforcement. But sanctions should be proportionate and accord with the interest of maintaining public safety, not perpetual punishment.