Courts in California that levied hefty court fines on defendants without first assessing their ability to pay the mandatory fees violated the state and U.S Constitution, a state appeals court ruled.
Read moreDallas County’s automatic money bail system violates poor defendants’ civil rights by not considering their ability to pay, a federal judge ruled late Thursday.
Read moreAfter the New York City Council took measures to ensure there is no racial bias in subway arrests for fare evasion, a new lawsuit claims the NYPD is refusing to disclose telltale numbers.
Read moreNew Hampshire’s high court ruled Tuesday that the state must afford due process to indigent defendants before jailing them over their nonpayment of legal bills.
Read moreA class action filed Thursday accuses an Arkansas district court judge of running an illegal ‘debtors’ prison’ that punishes residents with jail time and fines for being poor.
Read moreNeedy civil litigants who cannot afford to hire a private court reporter are still entitled to have one provided for them, California Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Read moreOfficials who administer food stamps in the District of Columbia must divert resources to improve how the agency processes applications, a federal judge ruled Thursday
Read moreA food bank in western Germany has reversed a 3-month old decision to prevent more foreigners from accessing its services, a move that drew criticism from aid groups and politicians.
Read moreA federal judge issued a blistering condemnation Friday of a New Jersey court that unconstitutionally jails people who cannot pay littering fines.
Read moreVaccines could save as many as 36 million lives and avert roughly 24 million cases of medical impoverishment in 41 low- and middle-income nations between by 2030, a new study finds.
Read moreMost Americans believe the federal government does not do enough to help the elderly, poor people and the middle class, the Pew Research Center reported Tuesday, and a majority also says the wealthy get too much support.
Read moreSporadic looting, food riots and protests driven by the hungry poor have surged in Venezuela, a country that’s no stranger to unrest. But the uprisings playing out recently have a different face than the mostly middle-class protesters who took to the streets for months last year in political demonstrations trying to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
Read moreThe federal judge who forced Texas’ biggest county to overhaul its bail system ordered Harris County criminal judges on Tuesday to prove they did not withhold evidence of policies against releasing poor misdemeanor defendants from jail.
Read moreDallas County, its sheriffs and judges are the latest to face a federal class action accusing them of unconstitutionally jailing poor people before trial because they cannot afford to pay bail for misdemeanors.
Read moreIn a major policy shift that could affect millions of low-income people, the Trump administration said Thursday it is offering a path for states that want to seek work requirements on Medicaid recipients.
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A St. Louis suburb’s bid to dismiss allegations that it repeatedly jails low-income residents when they cannot pay traffic fines faltered Monday when a federal judge ruled that five former detainees can proceed with civil rights claims against the city.
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President Emmanuel Macron says the French government itself fueled homegrown Islamic extremism by abandoning its poorest neighborhoods — and he’s promising tough and “sometimes authoritarian” new measures to combat radicalization.
Read moreA national effort is launching to help low-income defendants get out of jail by bailing them out as their criminal cases progress through the courts.
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