Civil rights groups sue Alamance County over jailing people who can’t afford bail

Civil rights groups on Tuesday sued Alamance County court officials and the sheriff on behalf of three incarcerated people who can’t leave jail while their charges are pending because they can’t afford to pay bail.

The federal class-action lawsuit accuses the county’s chief district and senior resident Superior Court judges, magistrates and sheriff of violating the three people’s constitutional rights. It seeks to reform a cash bail system it says discriminates against poor people who are presumed innocent while those who have money are free to go home.

“It has created two criminal legal systems, one for the rich and one for the rest of us,” said Leah Kang, a staff attorney for the ACLU of North Carolina, at a press conference Tuesday.

A representative for Chief District Court Judge Bradley Allen Sr. said the judge had not yet been served with the lawsuit and had no comment. Efforts to reach Senior Resident Superior Court Judge D. Thomas Lambeth and Sheriff Terry Johnson were unsuccessful on Tuesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina, and Civil Rights Corps filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Allison on behalf of:

▪ Lea Allison, 30, who was arrested on a felony drug charge and misdemeanors. She has a 6-year-old daughter and is sleeping on the floor of her jail cell because the jail is overcrowded, according to the lawsuit. Her bail was set at $3,500.

▪ Antonio Harrell, 36, who is charged with misdemeanor trespassing and larceny. He lives in a group home where he gets help with mental health and substance abuse issues, according to the lawsuit. He gets Social Security and also buses tables. His bail was set at $1,500.

▪ Katherine Guill, 42, who is charged with several misdemeanors. She works in a restaurant making $8 an hour plus tips, the lawsuit said. She too sleeps on a thin mattress on the jail floor, according to the lawsuit. Her bail was set at $2,500.

None of the plaintiffs had a lawyer present when bail was set or were able to talk with a judge about their ability to pay, according to the civil rights groups.

The lawsuit says 78% of the nearly 350 people in the Alamance County Detention Center are awaiting trial and that cash bail practices violate their “right to equal protection under the law, substantive and procedural due process and to be represented by counsel.”

In 2017, Alamance County judges required secured bonds, in which a person has to post money or property to guarantee they will appear in court, in 93% of felonies and 85% of misdemeanors. Last year, Alamance ranked second in the state for requiring secured bonds for misdemeanors, the lawsuit says.

Growing national issue

It’s not just North Carolina where advocates are raising concern. Cash bail rules have been under fire nationwide as calls for criminal justice reforms have gained steam in recent years.

Bail is meant to ensure people who are charged with crimes don’t skip their court dates, although there is growing skepticism over how effective or worthwhile it is. The New York Times reported earlier this year that several states have already reformed or entirely eliminated cash bail, and more are considering it.

In North Carolina, bail bondsmen have their own lobbying group, which has given thousands of dollars to politicians in both parties, The News & Observer reported earlier this year. But while there’s political pressure not to reform the system at the statewide level, some changes are happening at the local level.

In Durham County, judges and new District Attorney Satana Deberry are de-emphasizing cash bail for most misdemeanor and lesser felony charges, except those that involve domestic violence or physical harm to another person, The News & Observer has reported.

“If the court insists on setting a bond, we ask the court to have a hearing on whether or not that person can afford that or not,” Deberry said in a May interview.

Community bail fund

Andrea “Muffin” Hudson knows what it’s like to remain in jail because of cash bail.

In 2013, she was arrested on fraud and other charges and incarcerated in the Durham County Detention Center. A magistrate set her bail at $10,000, which a judge raised to $30,000, she said in an interview Tuesday.

Her charges were dismissed, but only after she had spent nearly two months in jail, losing her home and her job as an in-home aide.

Judges worried about being perceived as “soft on crime” don’t care about defendants’ ability to pay or the difficulties people have meeting even low bail amounts, she said.

“Even if it’s $50, if they don’t have a dollar, they’re not going to be able to pay that $50,” Hudson said. Harrell, one of the Alamance County plaintiffs, had $2 to his name when he was arrested, according to the civil rights groups.

Today, Hudson runs the N.C. Community Bail Fund of North Carolina, which pays bail under $2,000 for those who can’t afford it. The revolving loan fund, funded by donations, has helped 45 people leave jail since July 2018.

“People were saying no one would show up because they didn’t have any skin in the game, they didn’t have to put up the money,” she said. But only three people helped by the program missed their subsequent court date, and those people had mental health and drug issues, Hudson said.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday asks that every person in Alamance County be represented by a lawyer when a judge sets bail at a first court appearance.

“Detention should be the exception, not the rule, and a system where a person’s freedom depends on how much money they have is a broken one,” said Twyla Carter, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project.

This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 2:14 PM.