(NewsNation) — The Department of Justice issued a letter to the city of Lexington, Mississippi, saying the practice of jailing people for unpaid fines without evaluating their ability to pay was unconstitutional.
The letter came amid an ongoing investigation into the city and the Lexington Police Department to determine if there is a pattern of civil rights violations in the form of discrimination in use of force, stops, searches and arrests, discriminatory policing and the right to free speech.
The city is in one of the poorest counties in the U.S. and one-third of residents live below the poverty line. The DOJ cautioned the city against arresting people for unpaid fines or for requiring people arrested to pay down fines before they could be released.
Before arresting someone for fines, the courts are meant to first determine if they have the ability to pay them. If someone does not have the financial means to pay a fine, jailing them for failing to pay is considered unconstitutional.
“It’s time to bring an end to a two-tiered system of justice in our country in which a person’s income determines whether they walk free or whether they go to jail,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
On Thursday, City Attorney Katherine Riley responded by saying the city welcomed the DOJ’s presence and was working to make changes.
The larger investigation continues, but the department said in a statement it issued the letter because it was critical to identify and stop violations without waiting for the investigation to be complete.
