Innovative warrant clinics help people take care of legal issues without risking jail time

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• Geoff Bennett:

  In the U.S., there are millions of outstanding arrest warrants, the vast majority of stemming from low-level offenses like traffic violations.

  As Christopher Booker reports, one group is reimagining how to clear these warrants and keep people out of jail.

• Jasmine Allen, Mother:

  That's super easy. How many times does two go into two?

• Christopher Booker:

  It's a Friday night in Pontiac, Michigan, a suburb north of Detroit. And Jasmine Allen is helping her two youngest daughters with homework.

• Jasmine Allen:

  So, those are the notes you're supposed to copy and turn in.

• Student:

  Yes.

• Christopher Booker:

  At 33, she's a busy single mom of three who works part-time jobs in retail and manufacturing. But she has bigger dreams.

• Jasmine Allen:

  I want to go to nursing school. And that's all I keep thinking about, is going to nursing school, so that I can better position myself and my daughters.

  So, what's five times five?

• Christopher Booker:

  For Allen, nursing school seems out of reach because of one frantic evening back in 2016 when she was speeding to be with her dying father.

  She received two tickets that night, and her father died shortly after.

• Jasmine Allen:

  So with all of that going on, I completely forgot about all of the tickets. I got pulled over again two years later, and that's how I found out that those tickets had turned into warrants.

• Christopher Booker:

  Because Allen had failed to pay her previous tickets or contact the court, a warrant had been issued for her arrest. The officer let her go, but did issue additional tickets, which also ended up becoming warrants.

  Day to day, how often are you thinking about these warrants?

• Jasmine Allen:

  Every day, every day, all day.

  William Snowden, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law: People assume folks are missing court because they're trying to evade justice or evade prosecution. But, oftentimes, there's things that are happening in people's lives that are preventing them from showing up to court.

• Christopher Booker:

  Loyola University New Orleans Law Professor Will Snowden says Allen's situation is not unique.

• William Snowden:

  People often miss court for three reasons. One, they simply forget that they have court. Two, they don't have transportation to get to court. Or, three, they have childcare responsibilities that they aren't able to get covered.

• Christopher Booker:

  What actually happens when someone misses court?

• William Snowden:

  It's very likely that a judge will issue what is sometimes called a bench warrant. Essentially, when a person does not show up to court, the judge will order this warrant for that person to be picked up and arrested and brought to court, so they can actually proceed with the case.

• Jasmine Allen:

  When I think of one to the courthouse, I think of them just locking me up, taking me and locking me up off that warrant.

• Christopher Booker:

  What would be the potential outcome if you were to be arrested?

• Jasmine Allen:

  I probably would lose my job. I'd be taken away from my girls. That's what I'm worried about the most.

• William Snowden:

  When we zoom out and we look at the demographics of our prisons and jails across the country, we know that there's an overrepresentation of Black and brown people.

  We can see how, if people don't trust the criminal legal system to work for them, when they show up and they want to explain their case, there's a reality that they're perceiving a higher likelihood that they're going to get punished more severely.

• Christopher Booker:

  But there are efforts under way to disrupt this ongoing cycle.

• Anza Becnel, Growing Real Alternatives Everywhere:

  We believe community has the answers to what the new court system should look like, because we're the ones who fall victim to it so much.

  And all we did was say, if community creates court for itself, what would it look like?

• Christopher Booker:

  In partnership with the national nonprofit Black Voters Matter, Anza Becnel, the founder of Growing Real Alternatives Everywhere, or GRAE, works with local judges and community grassroots organizations to run weekend warrant clinics.

  Held in the community, the clinic's atmosphere is far removed from the traditional courtroom. There is a deejay, food, and limited police presence. There's also childcare and transportation for those who need it.

• Anza Becnel:

  Even holding court on a Saturday gives a lot of folks more opportunity to do what they actually want to do. And that is take care of their matters and be productive citizens.

• Christopher Booker:

  But, for Allen, the main draw was written right on the poster: "No Fear of Arrest."

• Judge Cynthia Walker, Oakland County, Michigan, District Court:

  You keeping your mom company?

  People are understanding this is not a sting operation. We are really lifting these warrants, so that people can be out there legally. Part of it is just building back trust.

• Christopher Booker:

  Allen and her daughters appeared before a plainclothes judge, Cynthia Walker.

• Judge Cynthia Walker:

  Most courtrooms have the judge sitting a little bit higher, and I think there's more of a feeling of connection with a person sitting across from you.

  Tell me what your names are.

• Student:

  Cadarier (ph).

• Judge Cynthia Walker:

  Cadarier?

• Student:

  Callie (ph).

• Judge Cynthia Walker:

  Callie. OK. Glad to have you here.

• Jasmine Allen:

  Thank you.

• Judge Cynthia Walker:

  Normally, children are more of a distraction to the parent, so we encourage them not to bring their children. But the whole feel of this today, there was a young woman who had her two daughters with her.

  And she said she wanted them to see the process. It's an educational opportunity. I want them to know that, where I'm sitting, they can be. I may be a judge, but I'm a person just like them.

• Christopher Booker:

  Outside, 7-year-old Josiah (ph) and his sister, 11-year-old Faith, colored with a volunteer while their mother, Zeneva Ware, spoke with Judge Walker inside.

• Zeneva Ware, Mother:

  Just the beginning of the month, that's rent, bills, everything.

• Christopher Booker:

  Thirty-five-year-old ware has had warrants hanging over her for nearly two decades, beginning with a traffic violation when she was 16.

  But she says the fear of being arrested and separated from her five children, two of whom have special needs, kept her out of the courtroom.

• Zeneva Ware:

  A lot of the people that have warrants are the head of households. So, even when we want to take accountability, life doesn't even allow us to step up and say, hey, I'm ready to take care of this, because we are responsible for our kids, family members, households.

• Christopher Booker:

  This is Ware's second trip to the warrant clinic. She struggled to pay her fines and court costs since her last visit, and her tickets went back into warrant status.

  To Snowden, this represents one of the limitations of the clinic. It can get people in the door, but they're still at the mercy of the costly legal system.

• William Snowden:

  You might be able to extinguish your warrant by showing up to these clinics, but these fines and fees perhaps can still hang over your head.

  Well, if you didn't have the money to begin with to pay the fines and fees, how are we expecting people to come up with the money now after these clinics?

• Zeneva Ware:

  Well, that was easy. Thank you. I was scared.

  (Laughter)

• Christopher Booker:

  But, for Ware, who left with a reduction in her payment plan, the warrant clinics have been a source of hope.

• Zeneva Ware:

  I have been running from this or hiding from this, wanting to take care of it. And all of a sudden, it's just a gift box with a bow, like, here, come fix it right now.

• Jasmine Allen:

  Thank you.

• Christopher Booker:

  After her turn with Judge Walker, Jasmine Allen had a similar response.

• Jasmine Allen:

  I am warrant-free.

• Christopher Booker:

  How are you feeling right now?

• Jasmine Allen:

  Great. I'm ready to go dance.

• Christopher Booker:

  In just five hours, this clinic helped more than 200 people and lifted 160 warrants, a good day for the advocates here, but hardly a dent in this nationwide problem. Millions of Americans still live under the threat of warrants.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Christopher Booker in Pontiac, Michigan.