A lawsuit alleges that practices in Gulfport's Municipal Court are creating a DEBTORS PRISON

New Gulfport mayor wants to meet with plaintiffs' lawyers

By ROBIN FITZGERALD
Wednesday July 27, 2005
 

GULFPORT - The tone of a letter from the city attorney has prompted a group of attorneys to proceed with a federal lawsuit alleging illegal practices in Municipal Court.

The letter in question, from Harry P. Hewes, was in response to a written request from a group of attorneys who asked to set up a meeting within 10 days to discuss problems they saw in city court.

The attorneys allege that Gulfport Municipal Court judges violate the rights of indigent people who are jailed for failing to pay misdemeanor fines.

When the city, via Hewes' letter, declined to meet with the attorneys, they decided a federal lawsuit was their only recourse, said Sarah Geraghty of the Southern Center for Human Rights.

"The letter was dismissive of our clients' concerns," said Geraghty. "The response is disappointing. We want this practice stopped. For one thing, there is a difference in a person's willful failure to pay and their inability to pay."

Hewes said the group's letter gave a short response time.

His letter to the group read: "A meeting would be useless without us receiving advance specific information with opportunity to investigate it. Further, we would like to be informed in advance as to any reasonable recommendations you may have for our consideration."

Hewes noted Tuesday that the court operates independently of the city. There are about $3 million in uncollected fines.

The lawsuit was filed last week by the Southern Center, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Jackson attorney Robert McDuff.

The lawsuit, which represents only one side of an argument, alleges that some of the 15 plaintiffs have been repeatedly jailed and given additional fines due in 30 days for the same misdemeanors. The practice, said Geraghty, has turned Harrison County jail into a debtors prison.

According to the lawsuit, some of the plaintiffs are physically or mentally disabled.

Mayor Brent Warr, a month into office, said he did not know about Hewes' response to the letter.

"I was willing to meet with the attorneys and still am," Warr said.

Warr recently met with attorney William Martin, a former NAACP official, and asked him to set up a meeting to discuss the group's concerns.

"We are not dominators of the city," said Warr. "This is something I plan to look into closely so we can make sure that we are fair to everyone."

Martin says he shares the other attorneys' concerns.

"I disagree with how Municipal Court handles these cases," Martin said. "Whether what the city is doing is illegal or not, I don't know, but it doesn't seem right."

Speaking as a businessman, Warr said that people who owe money are more likely to pay what they owe if they can afford it.

"I would rather get the money I can get instead of 100 percent of nothing," said Warr.

Sticker shock

Here is a sampling of the fines typically levied for some misdemeanors in Gulfport:

• Public intoxication: $152

• Expired automobile tag: $222

• Suspended driver's license: $626

• Improper lane usage: $141

• Providing a false name: $622

• Noise violation: $622

• Possession of drug paraphernalia: $622

• Public profanity: $222

• Possession of marijuana: $372

• Shoplifting first offense: $622

• Trespassing: $327

- THOMAS V. CITY OF GULFPORT, CIVIL SUIT FILED IN U.S. CIRCUIT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI

By the numbers

A growing number of people are held at the overcrowded Harrison County jail on misdemeanor charges filed in Gulfport. Some of the numbers:
$15 a day: The amount Gulfport pays to house misdemeanor suspects.

$36 a day: The amount jail officials say it costs to house the average inmate.

$534,811: The amount the county jail has billed Gulfport for inmate housing and medical treatment from October 2004 through May. Of that, $15,151 is medical costs.

$479,281: The amount the county billed Gulfport in fiscal year 2004 for inmate housing and medical services.

672: The number of inmates the county jail was built to house; Friday, it held 994.

285: The number of inmates held Friday on Gulfport misdemeanors.

$15.20: The least amount of old fines resulting in a misdemeanor arrest in Gulfport, according to the plaintiff attorneys.

 

 

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