Jenkins v. The City of Jennings

The City of Jennings (the city) (defendant) jailed impoverished individuals (plaintiffs) for failure to pay fines related to traffic tickets and other minor violations. The city did not inquire into the individuals’ ability to pay or provide them with counsel prior to jailing them. Many individuals could not afford to pay the fines, but they were told they would be jailed indefinitely unless they paid what the city demanded. The jail conditions were unsanitary and allowed no dignity. The amount of money the prisoners needed to pay to be released could increase or decrease daily without any reliable basis. Once a week, the city brought some individuals before a city judge and told them that they would be jailed until they paid a certain amount of their debt. The individuals were not provided with counsel or advised of their legal rights. Further, the city locked the doors during these proceedings, preventing the public from viewing them. Samantha Jenkins (plaintiff) survived on disability payments and food stamps and paid $100 per month toward her city debt. During one payment attempt, courthouse staff would not let Jenkins in the building and told her to return the next day. When Jenkins returned the next day, she was told that her payment was now late and that she owed $400. Jenkins could not afford that amount and was jailed. Jenkins was then told it would cost her $700 to be released. Jenkins’s family eventually raised the $700, and she was released. Jenkins was later jailed again, with the city claiming that she now owed $2,400 in unpaid fines and fees. Jenkins and the other impoverished individuals filed a class action against the city alleging several constitutional violations, including violations of the individuals’ Fourteenth Amendment procedural-due-process rights.