Photo



Civil Rights Attorneys Sue Ferguson Over ‘Debtors Prisons’ Joseph Shapiro In a new challenge to police practices in Ferguson, Mo., a group of civil rights lawyers is suing the city over the way people are jailed when they fail to pay fines for traffic tickets and other minor offenses. The lawsuit, filed Sunday night on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the police shooting of Michael Brown, alleges that the city violates the Constitution by jailing people without adequately considering whether they were indigent and, as a result, unable to pay. The suit is filed on behalf of 11 plaintiffs who say they were too poor to pay but were then jailed — sometimes for two weeks or more. NPR got an advance look at the lawsuit, filed by lawyers from Equal Justice Under Law, ArchCity Defenders and the Saint Louis University School of Law. It charges that Ferguson officials “have built a municipal scheme designed to brutalize, to punish, and to profit.” In 2013, Ferguson collected $2.6 million in court fines and fees, mainly on traffic violations and other low-level municipal offenses. That was the city’s second-largest source of income, or about 21 percent of its total budget. The lawsuit challenges the practice of jailing people when they can’t afford to pay those fines. When tickets go unpaid, people are summoned to court and usually offered a new payment plan. If they fail to show up or make the new payments, the city issues an arrest warrant. In 2013, Ferguson, a city with a population of 21,000, issued nearly 33,000 arrest warrants for unpaid traffic violations and other minor offenses. Many of those were for people who lived outside the city. READ MORE (and prepare to be filled with rage…)
If you think Ferguson is the only city this kind of injustice is occurring in, think again. It’s probably happening in your own city, if you live State-side. The criminal justice system has been increasingly criminalizing poverty over the last 3 decades, and with the boom of the private prison system, it’s only going to get worse. The time for action is now. More than just protesting, we have to start attacking the laws and policy that allows these miscarriages of justice to occur. #staywoke #farfromover
24K notes
·
View notes
Photo




The Love Story Behind Alabama’s First Legally Married Same-Sex Couple
When Tori Sisson and Shanté Wolfe first met on the floor of an apartment party, they had no way of knowing they were on their way to making history — together. Shanté Wolf shares her side of the story with BuzzFeed News.
25K notes
·
View notes
Photo


sometimes he is also a she. it depends what game we’re playing and what mood bmos in.
genderfluid BMO
168K notes
·
View notes
Text
"if you’re not a boy or a girl then what are you?" jacked as fuck and ready to fight
43K notes
·
View notes
Text
when white boys are like “fuck the system” u know they mean “why can’t i smoke weed legally” not “wow institutionalized oppression really sucks”
97K notes
·
View notes
Text
Frida Kahlo was so aggressively negative towards white people in all the right ways (and for all the right reasons.) But somehow managed to acquire the biggest gringa feminist fan base since Sylvia Plath. I just don’t get it.
19K notes
·
View notes
Conversation
people without mental illnesses: just stop thinking so negatively :) just think of nice things :) just get over it already, you'll be laughing about this in a years time :) just be thankful you're alive :) :)
62K notes
·
View notes
Photo

Today’s Gender of the day is: A healthy cow lying on its side
4K notes
·
View notes