Stephen Papa, Grand Rapids, Mich.
“I tried really hard to get this job and I’d really like to keep it. So I’m pretty much doing the best I can to take care of all the loose ends at once.”
- Offense: Destruction of property and resisting arrest.
- Punishment: 22 days in jail.
- About this case: After coming back from the Iraq War, Papa was unable to find a job and was homeless. In court, the judge requested $50 as a first payment, but Papa had only $25.
- Court debt: $2,600.
Listen to Stephen (0:46)
Tom Barrett, Augusta, Ga.
“I should not have taken that beer. I was dead wrong. But to spend 12 months in jail … it didn't seem right.”
- Offense: Shoplifting a can of beer worth less than $2.
- Punishment: Sentenced to 12 months in jail; released after two months.
- About this case: There was no jail time for the shoplifting, but the terms of his release required him to wear an electronic monitoring device. And the $12 a day rental fee was more than the homeless man could afford.
- Court debt: More than $400/month for one year.
Listen to Tom (0:24)
Kyle Dewitt, Ionia, Mich.
“It was ridiculous ’cause it was over a fish.”
- Offense: Caught a fish out of season.
- Punishment: Three days in jail.
- About this case: Then 19, Dewitt had just lost his job; he says he couldn't afford the original $155 fine. The court offered him payment plans, but he says he never received the letter.
- Court debt: More than $215.
Listen to Kyle (0:25)
Eddie Restrepo, West New York, N.J.
“The more and more I kept trying to get out of it, it seemed like a bigger hole I was digging myself.”
- Offense: Driving with a suspended license and no insurance; unpaid parking tickets.
- Punishment: Avoided jail time by turning himself in to New Jersey’s Fugitive Safe Surrender program.
- About this case: The homeless Iraq war veteran couldn't afford to renew his driver’s license. After he was caught twice by police and didn't pay his fines and fees, a warrant was issued for his arrest. He now works in parking enforcement issuing tickets.
- Court debt: More than $10,000; reduced to $199.
Listen to Eddie (0:27)
Jayne Fuentes, Benton County, Wash.
“Right now I don’t have an income so I worry every day they’re going to put a warrant out for me and arrest me.”
- Offense: Drug convictions.
- Punishment: Jail and work crew.
- About this case: After years of addiction and prison time, Fuentes is sober and living in a treatment house. A judge allowed her to pay off some of her fines by joining a county work crew. But that costs $5 a day, which she had to borrow from her daughter. Failure to do so would have sent her back to jail.
- Court debt: Several thousand dollars.
Listen to Jayne (0:14)
Virginia Dickerson, Richland, Wash.
“I made the choice to break the law, but they don’t make it easier for anyone who is trying to rehabilitate themselves to get above water.”
- Offense: Drug convictions.
- Punishment: Been to jail three times to pay off fines.
- About this case: Dickerson, 34, has been drug-free for more than three years. She’s working two restaurant jobs and still struggles to pay her fines, fees and interest to avoid going back to jail.
- Court debt: Almost $10,000.
Listen to Virginia (0:28)
Danny Bearden, Tunnel Hill, Ga.
“These are poor people, OK? They got families and everything like that, they work a job, and when, even when they get behind in trying to pay, they go to jail.”
- Offense: Breaking into a trailer.
- Punishment: Two years in prison.
- About this case: In 1981, when Bearden could not afford to pay his fines and restitution, he was sent to jail. Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bearden v. Georgia that judges can’t jail people just because they are too poor to pay their fines.
- Court debt: $750.
Listen to Danny (0:27)