Challenging Debtors’ Prison Practices in Jennings
Jenkins et al. v. City of Jennings
In 2016, Civil Rights Corps, in partnership with ArchCity Defenders and the Saint Louis University School of Law Legal Clinics, reached a landmark settlement for impoverished people who were illegally jailed in Jennings, Missouri. The lawsuit, filed in 2015, alleged that the City of Jennings had converted its legal system into a mechanism of revenue generation in which it used its police, municipal court, and jail to extort millions of dollars every year from its most impoverished people, keeping them caught in a brutal cycle of jail and debt for years. As a result of our case, the City paid $4.75 million to nearly 2,000 impoverished people who were illegally jailed and agreed to an injunction that prevents it from ever again jailing people because they are unable to make a payment.
Media Coverage:
Missouri City to Pay $4.7 Million to Settle Suit Over Jailing Practices | New York Times | July 16, 2016
Jennings to pay $4.7M settlement to those jailed over court debts | St Louis Post-Dispatch | July 14, 2016
Debtors' Prison in 21st-Century America | The Atlantic | Feb 23, 2016
Partners:
White & Case LLP
St. Louis University School of Law Civil Litigation Clinic
Filings:
Permanent Injunction (Sep 16, 2015)
Complaint (Feb 8, 2015)
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