In the Massachusetts criminal justice system, it's possible to be imprisoned not for a crime, but for simply being unable to pay court fees and fines that can stack up during proceedings.
It happened to James K, who didn't want his last name used, when he got thrown in jail after going to Dudley district court to try to clear up the issue of money he owed the court stemming from drug charges.
"I wasn't incarcerated for the crime in particular. I was incarcerated simply for the fine," James told lawmakers Thursday.
James was working as a roofer in Kentucky before returning to Massachusetts to clear up an open warrant and the court costs. He went before the judge. He told him he was poor.
In audio from James' day in court, the judge asked the defendent if he could pay the $1,100 he owed. James replied "I'm poor," and the judge quickly sent him to be incarcerated for the debt. The click of James' handcuffs can be heard on the tape.
James stayed in jail over a month, earning the standard 30 dollars a day until he paid back the court.
Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington had James testify before a State House committee last week to give his story about getting locked up without regard to his indigent status.
Barrett asked James "I think you did owe $1,100 dollars. Did you have $1,100 to give?" To which James replied "No. I didn't even have three cents to give at that moment."
District Court Chief Justice Paul Dawley says judges are required to enforce laws that say debtors to the courts go to jail until they can pay. But they are also supposed to determine means, and have options to help avoid jail time.
"But in terms of assessing fees and fines, I guess you have to ask the ultimate question, 'how is that going to reduce recidivism?" Dawley testified to Barrett's Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee.
Dawley was blunt with the panel that the court fees are sometimes unrelated to the actual cost of lawyers court proceedings.
"I don't think there's any correlation to the actual costs of the prosecution or the police," Dawley told Barrett's panel.
The courts have been crunched by years of tight budgets and Bartlett estimates the system gets about $55 million dollars a year from these fees.
"The totality of the problem as we hope to discuss today, has to do with the sheer financial burden visited upon people, but also raises the question about whether Massachusetts state government has become alarmingly dependent on extracting money from people who have no money," Barrett said.
Barrett and other senators say they'll examine the law and propose reforms to try to stop the penniless from serving time over nothing more than fines.
