29 hours ago That was last month. Robertson, 44, is now one of the plaintiffs in a class action federal civil rights lawsuit filed this week by the Arkansas Civil Liberties Union and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The suit aims to take on what has been described as a “modern-day debtors’ prison” in the city of Sherwood. >> Go To The Portal
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed the lawsuit on behalf of four people who were jailed because they couldn't pay fines related to bounced checks and a Sherwood resident who is challenging the practice as a misuse of taxpayer funds.
Robertson's financial woes have landed him a jail seven times over the past six years, and in July, Sherwood District Court Judge Milas 'Butch' Hale III sentenced him to 90 days in the Pulaski County Jail for owing the local court more than $3,000 in fees and fines.
While undergoing his first round of chemotherapy six years ago, which left him unable to work, Robertson began paying for his everyday expenses with checks, and eventually he came to owe about $200 to a few local stores, reported Huffington Post.
Another plaintiff in the case is Nikki Petree, a 40-year-old Arkansas woman who has been in jail for more than 25 days because she was unable to pay more than $2,600 in court costs, fines and fees related to a bounced check she wrote in 2011 for $28.93.
Pulaski County has sent misdemeanor hot check cases to the Sherwood District Court since the 1970s, according to the lawsuit. The groups in the lawsuit also suggest that the practice is more widespread than just one county.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed the lawsuit on behalf of four people who were jailed because they couldn't pay fines related to bounced checks and a Sherwood resident who is challenging the practice as a misuse of taxpayer funds.
Robertson's financial woes have landed him a jail seven times over the past six years, and in July, Sherwood District Court Judge Milas 'Butch' Hale III sentenced him to 90 days in the Pulaski County Jail for owing the local court more than $3,000 in fees and fines.
While undergoing his first round of chemotherapy six years ago, which left him unable to work, Robertson began paying for his everyday expenses with checks, and eventually he came to owe about $200 to a few local stores, reported Huffington Post.
Another plaintiff in the case is Nikki Petree, a 40-year-old Arkansas woman who has been in jail for more than 25 days because she was unable to pay more than $2,600 in court costs, fines and fees related to a bounced check she wrote in 2011 for $28.93.
Pulaski County has sent misdemeanor hot check cases to the Sherwood District Court since the 1970s, according to the lawsuit. The groups in the lawsuit also suggest that the practice is more widespread than just one county.