Buzzfeed: El Paso Municipal Courts illegally jail poor who can’t afford to pay traffic fines

An investigation by Buzzfeed finds El Paso Municipal Courts illegally jail poor who can’t afford to pay traffic fines.

The article titled, “Their crime: Being Poor. Their Sentence: Jail,” found that people in Texas get thrown in jail because they can’t afford to pay traffic fines. The article states it happens regularly in El Paso.

Buzzfeed reviewed 100 of court cases for people jailed at least five days in 2014. It found not a single case indicated the judge considered the defendant’s ability to pay before sending them to jail.

You can read the entire article here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kendalltaggart/in-texas-its-a-crime-to-be-poor#.jlB5pDE5w4