A judge in Alabama has allegedly made people who owe court fees choose between jail and blood donation
The fresh York Times reported on Monday that Judge Marvin Wiggins of Marion,Alabama, is offering destitute people who owe court fees a uncertain choice: donate blood, or risk going to jail. According to audio posted by the Southern Poverty Law Center,recorded in September on the day of a blood drive, Wiggins allegedly told those with fines: “whether you attain not fill any money, or you don’t want to go to jail – you can give blood nowadays”,adding: “consider that a discount”. Wiggins’s choice is a terrible, likely unconstitutional and ethically dubious proposition, or which could fill potentially mortal consequences for the public blood supply. This kind of rampant capitalism,in which a local court essentially says: ‘value will be extracted from you, akin to squeezing blood from a stone’ is a barbaric violation of the rights of the poor. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com