Disparate impact of mass incarceration on the local courts (Part 1)
The federal courts are instructed by federal law to prioritize civil cases on the docket. This being done while relying on the integrity of law enforcement to invoke the use of the courts to protect and serve all citizens within its jurisdiction.
Therefore, it is expected nationally that the courts be preserved to settle civil matters to prevent disparate impact on the citizens that threatens the security of the nation and provides federal funding for those goals.
After being born and reared in this community, my integrity was called into question when I was awakened in the middle of the night because a tow company was attempting to drag my car from the front yard. When the police arrived the tow truck driver showed his phone to local police officers, who allowed the car to be dragged away and in a subsequent conversation the chief of police refused to write a report for evidence in a civil proceeding.
In the same court that has been used repeatedly to deprive individuals of civil liberties, I was able to provide evidence that the car was current on payments and the tow was unjustified and caused personal injury and damages. As a matter of law the jurisdiction of the court is invoked to protect me or any other citizen in such matters.
However, the court refused to provide protection or even serve the offenders without paying a court fee. In short, the court asked me to pay for equal protection and due process guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution while fully aware I am homeless and reside with family.
Most people living in our community are related to or associated with someone who is currently without protection from this disparaging use of the courts. For example, nothing in the U.S. Constitution criminalizes being a bad parent but now the courts are piling up cases that disparately affect minorities unable to pay the cost for litigation to collect child support fees.
The priority of the court is to protect those within its jurisdiction and that would also include those on trial for committing crimes. The priority of the court and those trusted with using the courts is to protect the due process and equal protection rights of its citizens. However, when its citizens are being used to create the business of the court, and the citizens are not using the courts for due process and equal protection, we get disparate impact.
For example, my brothers, and recently myself have been incarcerated in the county jail, state prisons and federal prisons, and ordered to pay costs for the use of the courts to deprive our liberties. However, after having spent our lives in this community, I cannot access the courts for the purpose of a civil matter wherein I received actual damages by a company with no ties to the community because the courts expect me to pay a fee without ever contacting the company who made the offense.
This is the denial of due process and equal protection rights that once repeated causes disparate impact. Is your court committed to prioritizing civil matters in the public interest or do we have a criminal court system that chooses not to protect all citizens equally? After years of the courts being used to create mass incarceration do you feel like you have the same rights as every other American? Do you feel protected?
Do you ever wonder if mass incarceration made some mistakes and innocent people are now permanently deprived of the right to life in order to give us a court that will allow corporate companies to steal your employment rights, take advantage of your labor force, and leave you here waiting to be the next victim with no access to a civil process to demand justice and equality. Ever wonder why it costs you so much to have equal rights? Could this happen to you?
The next article will discuss the disparate impact of mass incarceration on the local vote.
Zorri N. Rush
Eupora
