Three current or former Washington County judges are among defendants in a civil rights lawsuit that alleges being jailed for failure to pay without consideration of financial ability creates a “debtors’ prison” and is unconstitutional.
The petition in Washington County District Court names former District Judge Curtis DeLapp, Special Judge Jared Sigler, former Special Judge John Gerkin and the Oklahoma Indigent Defense system as defendants. In the petition filed Thursday, plaintiffs Amanda Feenstra, Lonnie Feenstra and Sharonica Carter argue the debt they have incurred through imposition of court fines and fees is insurmountable despite their efforts to pay.
They seek a permanent injunction and also the vacation of their outstanding fines, fees and costs.
“We landed on Washington County in particular because we really kept seeing a lack of care or concern, as it appeared to us, for individuals who were poor and unable to pay fines and fees,” said Myesha Braden, the director of the Criminal Justice Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Tulsa-based Bryan and Terrill, along with New-York based Latham and Watkins LLP, also represent the plaintiffs.
People are also reading…
DeLapp and Gerkin are accused of regularly ordering defendants to pay court fines without asking whether they can pay the amount imposed. The suit says DeLapp also “had a policy and practice” of incarcerating indigent defendants solely on that basis without due process.
DeLapp resigned in August amid allegations of gross neglect of duty, among others, avoiding an ouster trial before the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary. He can no longer serve as a judge but is able to keep his retirement benefits.
Sigler presides over the cost docket in Washington County, according to the petition.
Amanda Feenstra said she owes nearly $12,000 in costs, which is more than double the amount DeLapp assessed in 2015 after her guilty pleas to four nonviolent felony charges. Lonnie Feenstra, Amanda Feenstra’s husband, has a disability that prevents him from working but said in the petition he owes more than $2,500 in costs associated with a case he says is dismissed.
Carter, according to the petition, pleaded no contest before DeLapp on a youthful offender case. The suit says DeLapp ordered her to pay $75 per month despite her being unemployed and made no attempt to determine her ability to pay.
“We don’t have any particular timing on any additional litigation but because the pattern is repeating itself in district courts and municipal courts, the possibility is very, very real,” Braden said.
The Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, according to the petition, is also culpable because of the contracts it executes with private attorneys in Washington County, among others. The lawsuit claims the contract provisions allow for a delay in full payment obligations until all the attorneys’ cases are closed, which incentivizes them to resolve their cases before the end of a given fiscal year.
The suit contends that structure creates a conflict of interest and violates the defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
Oklahoma law outlines procedure in which defendants can have a Rule 8 hearing upon sentencing, where they can demonstrate the ability to pay fines, fees and costs before a judge determines the amount. But Braden said such hearings are rare despite her belief they should be a requirement.
“The fact attorneys are not arguing for these ability-to-pay hearings creates a set of problems that continue to ripple,” she said. “If attorneys were insistent on holding Rule 8 hearings ... then the fines could be dismissed. Rather than doing that, they’re remaining silent. The fines are being levied against these individuals and they’re forced to face these cost dockets without attorneys.”
Reached Thursday, DeLapp declined to comment on specifics, saying he has not yet been served with the lawsuit. OIDS also did not offer a comment, saying it first learned of the case when contacted by a Tulsa World reporter.
