Arkansas: Remove Judge Milas Hale III from the bench for running an Illegal Debtors Prison
The ACLU of Arkansas recently filed a suit against Sherwood's "Hot Checks" division for being a debtors prison.
In 2009 Lee Robertson was undergoing chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. He couldn’t work.
"Robertson started off owing a few stores about $200. Six years and seven arrests later, in a closed courtroom in Sherwood District Court in Arkansas, Judge Milas “Butch” Hale sentenced the cancer patient to 90 days in jail. His crime? Owing the court $3,054.51."
But once you begin digging into the details the story only gets worse,
"Between the time of his charges and his latest jailing, Robertson had been sentenced to a stretch in jail over outstanding fines. Sherwood police officers came to his door, demanding money and threatening arrest. A private probation company, ProTrac, also charged Robertson $35 per month on top of the payments to the court, burying him further in debt.
He’s not alone. Nikki Petree, 40, was charged for bouncing a single check for $28.93, according to the lawsuit. She has been arrested in connection with that charge on at least seven occasions, and been jailed for more than 25 days. She’s paid at least $640 to the city."
Judge Hale effectively runs his court as a debtors prison. He takes people that are impoverished, unable to pay a few hundred dollars that they owe, and straps them with thousands of dollars of court fees.
If they are unable to pay, which seems unlikely since they were unable to pay a much lower total previously, he then jails them and sends them on probation with a private company that charges them, putting them further in debt.
This is an immoral action against the citizens of this country, We demand that the state of Arkansas remove Judge Hale from the bench and revoke his license to practice law for running an Unconstitutional Debtors Prison.
Sign this Petition Now!












