McClatchy By MEREDITH HOFFMAN 6/11/2017
AUSTIN, Texas
Ernesto Cardoza has gone to jail three times because he couldn't afford to pay his traffic tickets, and it cost him dearly.
"I lost everything — my girlfriend left with my kids, and when I came out I had to start over," the 34-year-old Dallas crane operator said of his first stint — 30 days in 2005 for failing to pay speeding tickets.
Texas locks up more people who can't afford to pay tickets and fines than any other state, but that could change if Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signs off on bipartisan bills that would require judges to offer alternatives such as community service, payment plans or waivers.
Ninety-five percent of warrants issued in Texas last year were for fine-related offenses, and more than 640,000 people spent at least one night in jail, according to the Texas Judicial Council, which sets policy for the state's judicial branch. At an average of $60 per night per inmate, it cost counties significant money to jail offenders rather than find cheaper — or even profitable — alternatives.
"This is easily the most significant reform to Texas's municipal courts in a decade," said Trisha Trigilio, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. "Under the bills, people who can't afford to make a payment would be guaranteed the opportunity to be heard before they're put in handcuffs."
The U.S. Supreme Court in the 1970s outlawed so-called debtor's prisons, finding it unconstitutional to jail people for not being able to pay fines. Several states, including Colorado, Washington, Georgia, and New Hampshire, recently have passed legislation meant to reinforce that ban, but more than a dozen states, including Texas, still effectively detain people for not paying what they owe.
More:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article155571394.html
