Judge sides with inmate in fight over extra jail time

RENO, Nev. - Ruling in favor of a former Washoe County jail inmate, a federal judge has found unconstitutional the county's practice of automatically converting unpaid fines into additional jail time.

The ruling could prove to be a significant victory for a number of poor inmates who are serving jail time because they can't afford to pay criminal fines, the inmate's lawyer said Friday.

"Debtor's prison is unconstitutional," said Terri Keyser-Cooper, a lawyer at the Civil Rights Law Center in Reno.

"Maybe when they release all the inmates who are doing time because they are too poor to pay their fines, jail overcrowding will go away," she said.

U.S. District Judge Edward C. Reed Jr. granted the preliminary injunction sought by inmate Steven Swanson in a lawsuit Swanson filed earlier this year against Washoe County Sheriff Richard Kirkland.

Swanson, who is indigent, filed the suit after the unexpected extension of his six-month jail sentence for petty larceny forced him to miss last Christmas with his children.

The ruling issued Thursday prohibits Kirkland or any other county officials "from converting to additional jail time any fine which is imposed on" Swanson without first obtaining an additional order from municipal court.

Reed said such an order is permitted only after the court holds a hearing to determine why the plaintiff hasn't paid the fine, and then concludes the plaintiff "willfully refused to pay the fine" or failed to try to acquire the resources to pay the fine.

If the court determines the plaintiff tried to pay the fine, but could not, Reed said the court must consider alternatives to imprisonment, such as installment payments, community service or time on a sheriff's work crew.

Keyser-Cooper said that while Reed's ruling applies directly only to Swanson, it makes clear that "poor people cannot have their fines automatically converted to more jail time.

"To do so is illegal, unconstitutional and must stop," she said. She estimated as many as 100 inmates in the Washoe County jail and could be released as a result of the ruling.

Kirkland was out of the office and not immediately available to comment on Friday.

Sgt. Bob Towery, spokesman for the sheriff's office, said no changes in procedure would be made until after the district attorney had finished reviewing the ruling.

He said the sheriff does not automatically convert unpaid fines into jail times, rather the sheriff routinely is directed by the judges to do so.

"The courts over the years have directed us to do that. I don't know how many inmates are in here under those circumstances," Towery said.

"We can't do anything until we get some guidance on what would be the appropriate thing to do. We don't know if each case would be reviewed individually or how it would apply. It is too early for us to tell," he said.

Swanson served out a six month misdemeanor sentence and would have been eligible for release on Dec. 13, 1997. But his $1,100 fine was automatically converted to jail time.

At $75 a day, Swanson realized his Dec. 27 release day would make him miss spending Christmas with his four children. He sought release from the county jail in exchange for paying off the remainder of his fine, but a county judge refused.

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