Lawsuit accuses officials of operating debtors' prison
BARTLESVILLE — A national civil rights organization filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing some Washington County judges and the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System of violating the civil rights of poor people by perpetuating an unconstitutional “debtors' prison.”
"The poorest people in Washington County, Oklahoma, are routinely subjected to court imposed fines and fees that they are simply unable to pay," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "We filed this lawsuit to bring an end to a modern-day debtors' prison that jails poor people at every turn."
People being jailed because of their inability to pay court fines and fees is a problem in many parts of Oklahoma, said Myesha Braden, director of the criminal justice project for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Braden said her organization decided to file its lawsuit in Washington County because the problem is particularly bad there. It's possible that future lawsuits could be filed in other counties if this lawsuit doesn't lead to improvements throughout the state, she said.
Special Judges Jared Sigler and John Gerkin, former District Judge Curtis DeLapp and the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System are among the individuals and entities named as defendants.
The lawsuit alleges that the judges maintained a practice of jailing individuals who could not afford to pay without first making a required determination of their ability to pay.
"In Washington County, fines and fees debtors are routinely incarcerated for failure to pay," the lawsuit states. "The practice is pervasive: 1,688 arrest warrants were issued for failure to pay court fines and fees between Nov. 1, 2015, and May 15, 2018, in Washington County, a county of about 40,000 adults."
"No ability to pay inquiry is made at the time of sentencing, nor are criminal defendants advised of their right to such an inquiry," the lawsuit states.
Oklahoma Indigent Defense System attorneys are supposed to advocate for indigent clients, but they have a financial incentive not to push for ability-to-pay hearings, the lawsuit claims.
"The contracts with attorneys in Washington County contain a provision delaying the final 10 percent of the annual contractual payment until the end of the year and upon verification that all of the contract attorney's cases are closed, thus incentivizing OIDS attorneys to close cases as quickly as possible," the lawsuit states. "This provision creates a powerful, personal financial incentive to avoid expending the time necessary to challenge the imposition of fines and fees against their clients."
Craig Sutter, executive director of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, could not be reached for comment.
Linda Thomas, Washington County district judge, said it would be improper for her or any of the judges named to comment on the lawsuit that is now pending in Washington County District Court.
The Tulsa law firm of Bryan & Terrill and the New York law firm of Latham & Watkins joined the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in filing the lawsuit.
Their clients include Amanda Feenstra, Lonnie Feenstra and Sharonica Carter.
Amanda Feenstra, 33, of Claremore, is described in the lawsuit as a working mother of six children who also is caring for a disabled husband and a seventh child. The lawsuit says she works about 60-80 hours per week at multiple jobs as a waitress and "often goes without food" to make her payments to the court.
It says she has been incarcerated for failure to make payments and her court-ordered fines, fees and costs have more than doubled from about $4,900 she was assessed in 2015 to the nearly $11,800 that she now owes. She pleaded guilty to false personation, forgery, identity theft and conspiracy in 2015, the lawsuit says.
Lonnie Feenstra, Amanda's 36-year-old disabled husband, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor traffic charges in 2016 and was ordered to pay over $1,000 in fines, fees and costs. He has been unable to work and "currently owes more than $2,500 in outstanding fines and fees from a dismissed charge," the lawsuit states.
Carter, a 23-year-old Tulsa resident, pleaded no contest to a youthful offender charge when she was 16. She is indigent, has been unable to find steady employment and the over $2,700 in fines, fees and costs that she originally was ordered to pay has grown to more than $5,000, the lawsuit states.