An Alabama judge is facing criticism for giving small-time offenders
who couldn’t afford their fines an ultimatum: Give blood or go to
jail. The Southern Poverty Law Center
filed an ethics complaint
against Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins alleging he gave dozens of
offenders sentenced to pay fines an unusual choice during a session
Sept. 17, when a blood drive was taking place outside the courthouse.
UPI reports:
“If you do not have any money and you don’t want to go to
jail, consider giving blood today and bring me your receipt back, or
the sheriff has enough handcuffs for those who do not have money,” the
SPLC quoted Wiggins as saying. Wiggins told the defendants to consider
the blood donation “a discount rather than putting you in jail,” but the
SPLC said no actual “discount” was given on the fines. The center said
donating blood did not reduce or wipe out the fines, it merely spared
the offenders from being taken to jail.
“People who couldn’t pay their court debt with cash literally paid
with their blood,” SPLC staff attorney Sara Zampierin. “This is a
shocking disregard for not only judicial ethics but for the
constitutional rights of defendants.” The SPLC complaint said the law
does not allow for a person to be sentenced to jail for a debt they are
unable to pay, but the judge failed to assess the ability of the
defendants to pay before giving them the jail or blood choice.
“The case law is clear, and Alabama’s statutes and rules are clear,”
Zampierin said. “Judges may not jail someone simply because they are
poor and not able to pay. We’re asking the Judicial Inquiry Commission
to sanction Judge Wiggins for his conduct. And we’re also calling on all
courts in Alabama to re-examine their procedures to ensure that the
poor are not being wrongfully threatened with jail.”
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