$1.7M settlement reached for Ferguson court fee abuses

A judge on March 24 granted preliminary approval of a $1.7 million settlement in a widely publicized class-action lawsuit against the city of Ferguson for charging court fees alleged to generate profit for the municipality at the expense of public welfare.

St. Louis County Circuit Judge Joseph Dueker approved the settlement, which is  to be distributed among a class of 10,000 plaintiffs. A hearing on final approval is set for May 6. ArchCity Defenders, the Saint Louis University School of Law Legal Clinics and the Campbell Law Firm filed the lawsuit in 2015.

“We’re really happy about getting this case finalized and getting it so that we have some sort of compensation for our class members who are citizens not just of Ferguson, but across our region,” said Michael-John Voss, co-founder and special projects director with ArchCity Defenders. “It feels like this is a fair settlement.”

The lawsuit alleged that, beginning in 2009 the city illegally charged fees of $50 to cancel warrants and $15 to send letters notifying defendants of active warrants. The city also inappropriately assessed charges of $150 to defendants who failed to appear in court, according to the lawsuit. Voss said if a defendant missed a court date for three traffic tickets, the defendant would be charged three additional fees. Elderly Ferguson resident and lead plaintiff Roelif Carter paid all three fees.

“The charging of the [failure to appear] fee, along with other fees described herein, actually makes it less likely that people will appear in court, as the amounts allegedly owed skyrocket and they are unable to pay,” the suit alleged.

The city did not admit to wrongdoing. It defended the fees — though it stopped charging them after the lawsuit was filed — arguing that defendants admitted their guilt in court by voluntarily paying. Voss disagreed, saying defendants were required to involuntarily pay the fees without the ability to contest them in court.

Ferguson has allotted $600,000 to begin paying claims. Additional funds will be added when claims surpass that amount up to $1,699,405, which is 80 percent of the amount allegedly collected illegally.

The city of Ferguson and city attorneys Apollo Carey and Ronald Norwood did not respond to requests for comment.

Ferguson faced increased public scrutiny after the killing of Michael Brown by a municipal police officer in 2014, but Voss said illegal fees and charges are a regional problem that began around the time of the Great Recession. ArchCity Defenders has filed similar lawsuits against St. Louis, St. John, Florissant and Jennings.

Another federal class-action lawsuit pending in St. Louis claims that Ferguson operated a debtor’s prison for jailing people who could not post bond or pay fines.

“The killing of Michael Brown brought into sharp focus abuses in municipal courts throughout St. Louis County and across the state,” one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Brendan Roediger, professor and director of the litigation clinic at SLU LAW Legal Clinics, stated in a news release.

The case is Carter v. City of Ferguson, 14SL-CC04195.