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After Ferguson, Some States Move to Rein In Punishing the Poor

Masood Farivar

   Five years after the death of Michael Brown in the St. Louis, Missouri,
   suburb of Ferguson, Americans are still divided over whether his death
   at the hands of a white police officer was justified.
   Even among the staunchest critics of the high-profile shooting of the
   18-year-old unarmed black man, many believe the incident and its
   aftermath have brought attention -- and in some cases reform -- to a
   long-standing criminal justice problem: ballooning fees and fines from
   traffic stops and other minor violations that can turn poor people into
   criminals.
   "What I'd say is that out of tragedy comes opportunity," said Wesley
   Bell, a former activist and Ferguson City Council member who is now St.
   Louis County's chief prosecutor. "In Ferguson, when you do something
   negative or positive, it registers, sometimes locally, but oftentimes
   nationally. And I think that's an opportunity to implement changes and
   reform that can reverberate across the nation."

   In the years since Brown's death, a growing number of cities and states
   have moved to rein in all manner of punitive measures --from exorbitant
   penalties to the suspension of driver's licenses -- that critics say
   can lead to a perpetual cycle of crime and punishment. While far from
   universally embraced, reform is happening in key regions.
   In 2015, Missouri capped the share of revenue that municipalities could
   raise from fines and fees at 20%, taking away incentives for cities
   such as Ferguson to police for profit.

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