Court Rules That Jailing Youth Who Are Unable To Pay Truancy Fines Violates Constitution
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dotty Griffith, (713) 942-8146 x 103 or (832) 291 4776; [email protected]
Vesna Jaksic, ACLU national, (212) 284-7347 or 549-2666; [email protected]
HOUSTON – Jailing indigent teens for inability to pay school truancy fines is unconstitutional, a federal court ruled this week in response to a federal lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas.
U.S. District Judge Randy Crane of the Southern District of Texas, McAllen Division, on Wednesday held that Hidalgo County violated the plaintiffs’ due process and equal protection rights by failing to determine their ability to pay fines before jailing them.
“We have a crystal-clear ruling that Hidalgo County’s conduct was unconstitutional,” said Lisa Graybill, ACLU of Texas legal director. “Locking up low-income kids in what is functionally a debtor’s prison compounds the very problem that truancy laws are supposed to address by pushing students who need help into the criminal justice system instead of back into school where they belong.”
The lawsuit, filed in July 2010, challenged Hidalgo County magistrates’ failure to determine indigency before giving teens with truancy tickets two options: pay or go to jail. The court agreed this practice is contrary to Texas law and violates constitutional protections against being jailed because of inability to pay court-assessed fines.
“Making truancy a law enforcement issue rather than a school issue is unfortunately a problem across this country,” said Courtney Bowie, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program. “No judge should send anybody to jail for a fine without first determining if they have the ability to pay that fine.”
Plaintiff Elizabeth Diaz was jailed for 18 days in 2010 because she and her mother could not afford to pay more than $1,600 in outstanding fines related to truancy tickets dating back to 2006. While she was in jail, Elizabeth missed taking her state assessment test, known as TAKS, and the charter school she was attending revoked her enrollment for being absent more than five days, thereby preventing her from graduating. Another plaintiff, Francisco De Luna, was sentenced to more than 100 days in jail because he could not afford to pay more than $10,000 in school fines.
“With this ruling, Hidalgo County is absolutely on notice that jailing individuals for unpaid fines without first providing an indigency determination will subject the county to liability,” said Mark Whitburn, staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas. “Other counties with similarly unconstitutional practices should take notice as well.”
For a copy of the summary judgment, click here.
For more background on this case, click here.
