Introduction – Punishing Poverty

Do Now: Think-Pair-Share

Post the following quote on the board and ask students to rewrite it in their own words. Have them share their interpretations with a partner then discuss as a class.

“If justice is priced in the marketplace, individual liberty will be curtailed and respect for law diminished.”

Robert F. Kennedy, 1962

Review student responses and discuss:

• What is Kennedy saying in this quote?
• What did he mean by “if justice is priced in the marketplace”? What was he warning against?
• What real-world examples can you give (from the past or present) that illustrate what happens when “justice is priced in the marketplace”?
• Do you agree with Kennedy? Why or why not?

2. The Price of Justice

Distribute Student Handout A: The Price of Justice and one factsheet from Teacher Handout A: The Price of Justice to each student. Give students a few minutes to read quietly and reflect on the information in the factsheet, then have them summarize the information in their own words on Student Handout A, page 1. Ask each to think of at least two questions that their factsheet has raised for them.

Next, have each student find a partner with a different factsheet and review the instructions on Student Handout A, page 2. Partners will take turns reading their factsheets out loud, sharing their responses to the information, providing respectful feedback and refining their summaries. Instruct each student to swap their factsheet with their partner’s. (Note: Students will be working from their partners’ factsheets and the discussion notes from Student Handout A, page 2 for the rest of the activity.

Group discussions:

Have the class organize into discussion groups to review and discuss each of the seven factsheets. Each group should have at least one student representing each of the seven factsheets. Each student in the discussion group should share a summary of their factsheet and the take-aways and unanswered questions from their previous discussion with their partner. The student(s) will then lead a brief clarifying and feedback discussion with the group. (If two students in one group read the same factsheet, they may lead the group discussion together.)

Following the group discussions, reconvene the class for a brief reflection and discussion:

• What topics or information stood out for you? What was most surprising?
• What were the common themes and issues that all the factsheets shared?
• How would you compare/contrast Robert F. Kennedy’s quote with the information you discussed with your group?
• What is a debtors’ prison? Do we still have them in the U.S.? Why or why not?

3. A Debtors’ Prison

Introduce the film A Debtors' Prison and distribute Student Handout B: A Debtors’ Prison Notes. Screen the film. While watching the film, students should take notes by filling in the large areas provided with the events, challenges, policies and barriers that lead to each woman’s incarceration.

Following the screening, have students identify similarities in the two women’s experiences and list the most common factors that contribute to people being jailed for debt in the small area (for example: discriminatory policing, limited access to financial and legal resources, intergenerational poverty, underemployment, illness, punitive fees that fail to account for the defendant’s ability to pay and institutional racism. For a primer on institutional racism, see page 15 of POV’s Discussion Guide for Raising Bertie).

For additional background on the class action lawsuit mentioned in the film, see Teacher Handout B: Jenkins v. City of Jennings.

Group discussions:

Organize the class into small discussion groups and distribute one copy of Student Handout C: Film Discussion to each group. Have groups discuss the questions in the handout (also below):

1. What surprised you most? What information, quote or scene was most significant for you? Why?
2. Samantha Jenkins says, “St. Louis is like a war zone. We get harassed a lot.” What does she mean? Who is “we” and what form of harassment are they experiencing?
3. What violations were Meredith Walker and Samantha Jenkins initially charged with? How did they end up being jailed multiple times over many years and owing thousands of dollars more than their initial fines?
4. Meredith Walker explains that she was charged for driving without insurance, but the officers never explained why they targeted her car and “ran her plates.” Why is that significant?

Note: Much like controversial “stop and frisk” policies, the practice of “running plates” without probable cause has raised concerns about racial profiling and abuse of power. Although, there is currently no federal statute that prevents officers from checking license plates without probable cause (multiple courts across the country have ruled that it does not violate the Fourth Amendment) some states and municipalities have enacted policies that restrict the practice.

1. What factors increased the risk for St. Louis County residents like Walker and Jenkins ending up in a cycle of debt and incarceration?
2. What steps did Walker and Jenkins take to comply with the court penalties and find workable solutions to keep them out of jail? What was the outcome of their efforts?
3. What was Jenkins’s response to the financial settlement she received from the class-action lawsuit? If you were in her position, what compensation would you expect from your city?

4. Constitutional Rights

Reconvene the class and introduce the Fourteenth Amendment concepts of equal protection and due process using the definitions from Teacher Handout B as a guide. Explain that those two principles were invoked in the class action lawsuit Jenkins v. City of Jennings.

Discuss:

• Do you think the city of Jennings violated the class action litigants’ Equal Protection rights? Explain your reasoning.
• Do you think the city of Jennings violated the class action litigants’ Due Process rights? Explain your reasoning.
• Both Meredith Walker and Samantha Jenkins admit that they were guilty of the charges filed against them, so why did they object to the penalties the court imposed? If, for instance, the legal fine for a traffic violation is $100, is it equally fair for all drivers to pay the same penalty regardless of their financial circumstances? Why or why not? (How is the burden of a $100 penalty different for one person than it is for another?)

Have volunteers read the following information aloud to the class.

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded a comprehensive civil-rights investigation of the Ferguson Police Department and the city’s municipal court system. The Department of Justice found that there was a system of aggressive policing and sentencing that extended into other municipalities, including Jennings, where A Debtors’ Prison was filmed.

As a result of these findings, the Supreme Court of Missouri ordered a broad range of reforms to restore public trust and ensure that constitutional standards are being applied to all cases and that every defendant is afforded due process under the law:

Ferguson’s law enforcement practices are shaped by the City’s focus on revenue rather than by public safety needs. This emphasis on revenue has compromised the institutional character of Ferguson’s police department, contributing to a pattern of unconstitutional policing, and has also shaped its municipal court, leading to procedures that raise due process concerns and inflict unnecessary harm on members of the Ferguson community. Further, Ferguson’s police and municipal court practices both reflect and exacerbate existing racial bias, including racial stereotypes. Ferguson’s own data establish clear racial disparities that adversely impact African Americans. The evidence shows that discriminatory intent is part of the reason for these disparities.

Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department

United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, March 4, 2015

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf

5. Free Writing Reflection

Have students reflect on the themes, issues, and stories from A Debtors’ Prison and how they relate to Robert F. Kennedy’s assertion. Give students 10 minutes to free-write their responses in their journals. Give students the option to share their thoughts or keep them private

6. Juvenile Justice

Explain:

In recent years, communities across the United States have begun challenging the rise of policies that criminalize poverty and target minority communities. There has also been increased attention to how these policies are affecting the juvenile justice system, where aggressive policing has trapped low-income youth and their families in a cycle of debt, incarceration and increasing poverty.

Think-Pair-Share:

Distribute a copy of the 2016 New York Times article “Court Costs Entrap Nonwhite, Poor Juvenile Offenders” to each student and have them read the article with a focus on identifying the similarities and differences between adult and youth courts.

To encourage deeper reading, you may choose to have students annotate the text using the Thinking Notes technique from Teaching Tolerance.

Instruct students to share their notes, and discuss how Dequan Jackson’s story compares with the stories conveyed in A Debtors’ Prison. Reconvene the class and have students share their observations.

7. Research Project: Order in the Court?

Explain:

Every year, approximately one million youths appear in juvenile courts across the country and face a barrage of court fees, fines, defense costs and restitution payments. According to a 2016 report by the Juvenile Law Center:

The costs for court related services, including probation, a “free appointed attorney,” mental health evaluations, the costs of incarceration, treatment or restitution payments, can push poor children deeper into the system and families deeper into debt. Youth who can’t afford to pay for their freedom often face serious consequences, including incarceration, extended probation, or denial of treatment.

Debtor’s Prison for Kids? The High Cost of Fines and Fees in the Juvenile Justice System

The Juvenile Law Center, 2016

https://debtorsprison.jlc.org/documents/JLC-Debtors-Prison.pdf

Juvenile Justice Research and Flowchart:

Organize the class into small research groups to investigate juvenile justice legislation, court procedures and sentencing in their town, city and/or municipality. Instruct students to look at:

• arrest, hearing and sentencing procedures and costs
• the court’s interpretation of due process
• demographics of youth arrest and incarceration compared with the residential population (i.e., economics, race, gender, religion, citizenship status)
• diversion programs that shift youth into community-based programs
• the financial burden for youth and their families
• psychological and financial impact on youth and their families (short- and long-term)

Encourage groups to expand their research beyond the school library and the Internet by visiting a local courthouse and interviewing people who have experience with the juvenile justice system: judges, prosecutors, public defenders, social workers, court clerks, local journalists, defendants and their families and so on.

Have students illustrate the juvenile court process and costs in the form of a flowchart using the following examples and resources:

- The Cost of Juvenile Court Involvement

https://www.scribd.com/doc/221665129/The-Cost-of-Court-Involvement

- Canva (Free Online Flowchart Maker for Educators)

https://about.canva.com/education/

- Flowchart of the Juvenile Court Process

http://njdc.info/flow-chart-of-the-juvenile-court-process

8. A Letter to My Representative: Persuasive Essay and Presentation

Have research groups investigate any significant changes to the juvenile justice system in the past decade by seeking answers to these questions:

• What departments or members of your local government are responsible for making changes to juvenile justice policy?
• If policies have changed, were those changes the result of juvenile justice reform? If so, what was changed and why? Did these reforms address the needs of economically vulnerable youth and their families? Are the reforms working?
• If no significant changes have taken place, is your city/town/municipality satisfied with the policies of the local juvenile justice system? Are there any efforts to reform the current system? If so, who is advocating for reform and what changes are they endorsing?
• What successful reforms implemented in other regions would benefit your community?

Ask students to take positions on a local juvenile justice issue and write persuasive essays in the form of letters to their local representatives. Students will mail copies of their letters and/or invite members of their local government to a presentation at your school. Each letter should include the following:

• A clear statement of opinion or position
• An explanation of why this issue is significant
• Evidence that supports the opinion (and disputes counter arguments)
• A conclusion that includes a call to action