A lawsuit filed yesterday accuses an Arkansas judge of running an unconstitutional debtor's prison, locking up defendants for low-level misdemeanor crimes, and suspending their driver's licenses unless they pay thousands in fines, Reason.com reported. The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has filed a class action suit representing six named clients and others against Arkansas state District Judge Mark Derrick, accusing him of violating citizens' rights by locking them up in White County because of their inability to pay court-imposed costs and fees. Derrick oversees eight low-level courts in different towns in White County (population: 79,000) and two in nearby Prairie County. These district courts handle non-jury cases like traffic and contempt proceedings. Judges are elected to four-year terms. The lawsuit describes Derrick's practices as among "the most extreme" among judges who do whatever they can to extract fines from defendants.
