by Press | Aug 29, 2016 | Newsclips
Nearly five years ago, Nikki Petree accidentally bounced a check for $28.93. Judge Milas “Butch” Hale ― the man behind a so-called “debtors’ prison” in Sherwood, Arkansas ― sentenced her to jail last month, even after she paid hundreds of dollars in court...
by Press | Aug 26, 2016 | Newsclips
This week, Robertson and several others in similar situations filed a lawsuit with the Arkansas Civil Liberties Union and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law against Sherwood’s “Hot Check Division” of the municipal court. The division has been...
by Press | Aug 25, 2016 | Newsclips
In March, Erika Wilson stood atop a small hill at North Carolina Central University, on the day of the state’s presidential primary. She and another volunteer wore T-shirts with the words “election protection” on one side, and the number to a voter...
by Press | Aug 24, 2016 | Newsclips
WASHINGTON ― Lee Robertson’s trouble began in late 2009, when he was undergoing his first stint of chemotherapy to battle the pancreatic cancer that had made it impossible for him to work. In the course of two weeks, Robertson wrote 11 checks at stores near his home...
by Press | Aug 24, 2016 | Newsclips
The hot-check division of Sherwood District Court and presiding Judge Milas Hale III have for years violated the civil rights of the poorest residents in Pulaski County through a “never-ending spiral of repetitive court proceedings and ever-increasing...
by Press | Aug 23, 2016 | Newsclips
Since writing a check for $28.93 five years ago that was returned for insufficient funds, Nikki Petree has been arrested seven times, served 25 days in jail and paid $640 to the city of Sherwood, Arkansas, and the local county court....
