News
And finally… scraping the cream
A police department is being sued after forcing inmates to pay for ice cream, cotton candy and laser tag for staff and their families.
The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department in Waterloo, Iowa, is among the U.S. police departments that controversially charge inmates the cost of their jail stay.
Before release, inmates are required to sign a “confession of judgment” agreeing to pay for room and board at a rate of $70 (about £55) per day, plus other “administrative fees”.
A lawsuit filed by two NGOs – Public Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa – alleges that these fees were used, among other things, to fund a shooting range for the enjoyment of department employees and families, including rental of ice. cream and cotton candy machines and laser tag.
Carlos Moore, attorney for the Public Justice debtors prison project, said, “In Black Hawk County, the sheriff decides who owes money and how much they owe, without any court reviewing those decisions. He serves as judge, jury and debt collector. It’s a classic conflict of interest.”
The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Eastern Division, to declare the practice of collecting money unconstitutional as a violation of due process.
It argues this is because it unfairly deprives someone of their property and because it is a conflict of interest for the sheriff’s office to charge fees that it can spend as it chooses.