Arrested for Begging on Good Friday: (UPDATED)

                In the last several weeks I have started to help represent folks charged with begging in Durham in violation of the new panhandling ordinance. It was the latest example of a sad trend in the criminalization of poverty. As someone committed to following the path of Jesus, I have learned that we are all part of one human family, and that we are liberated from our own egotistical selfish chains when have the chance to stand with those who are poor, persecuted or outcast. When I learned of the need, I leapt at the chance to get to know some of our poorest brothers and sisters, and to do what I can to help.  It was a blessing for me to get to try, and I knew it would be a spiritual adventure. 

                This adventure has already led me to Court, the jail, and to an initial consultation/lunch on the side of the road hosted by Open Table ministries. I have found this group of poor folks to be extraordinarily kind, generous, and good humored.

                On Good Friday  I was playing soccer with my three boys in the great common area of Duke Gardens when my phone started vibrating incessantly. One of my many clients charged with begging was trying to get in touch with me. I tried to ignore it. I need to set boundaries. I am playing with my kids. They can wait. I thought to myself. When I finally picked up, my client was at the jail. She was arrested for failing to appear in Court on March 19. However, she was in court with me on that date, and due to a clerical error involving a misspelling of her name, she was marked absent for that charge and present for another charge. An order for arrest was issued against her for failing to come to court even though she was there. At the jail, she tried to explain the mistake to the magistrate, but the magistrate did not believe her.  The magistrate told her if she could get a lawyer on the phone to verify her presence, then he would let her go. So after a few calls, disconnections, waiting on hold, I persuaded the magistrate that I really was a lawyer and she really did not miss court. And, so she was released. 

                A few minutes later, I got a text from a person with Open Table Ministries thanking me for helping out our client, and asking about the other person who was arrested the same day for begging. I was clueless, so I called the magistrate back and the conversation went something like this:

Me:                        Hello, it’s me again, Scott Holmes, calling about another one of my clients arrested today for begging. I am sorry to bother you twice in one day.

Magistrate:         Yes, I just heard the probable cause for her arrest from the arresting officer.

Me:                        I was hoping you would let her go. I represent her on her other begging charges, and I know the folks from Open Table Ministry who are making sure that she gets to court. She is not a flight risk.

Magistrate:         Are you with the public defender’s office?

Me:                        No, I am a private attorney volunteering with a coalition of church groups who are concerned about arresting poor people for asking for help.

Magistrate:         Oh, well, the problem here is that the officer said she won’t quit begging. He said he gave her a warning and she didn’t stop. He gave her a citation and she didn’t stop. And so he had no choice but to arrest her.

Me:                        Was that officer B--.?

Magistrate:         yes, how did you know?

Me:                        He seems to be the only officer in Durham with enough time on his hands to cite and arrest people for begging. He seems to like to harass these poor folks.

Magistrate:         Well, I know bond is just supposed to be about risk of flight and risk of harm to the community, but when it comes to people who keep breaking the law after they have been warned, they are becoming a nuisance.

Me:                        I understand your dilemma. The folks with this coalition will make sure she gets to court, and she won’t get any jail time for this charge, so if you keep her in jail on a bond on a Friday, you are basically sentencing her to three days in jail before I can get in front of another judge on Monday. And it’s Good Friday. I’m at Duke Gardens with my kids, the Courts are closed, and there’s no judge I can get to let her out today if you keep her.

Magistrate:         But the officer said he warned her, and then gave her a citation, and so I really don’t have a choice when someone keeps breaking the law.

Me:                        I can understand that concern for any other charge but a criminal charge for begging. What is a person going to do who needs help?  Do you really think justice is served by keeping someone in jail on Good Friday for begging?

Magistrate:         I don’t like seeing people down here on charges like this. I see all kinds of charges, all the time. But I don’t like seeing people get arrested for these sorts of charges. And, it is really good of you to want to help these folks.

Me:                        Well, I really appreciate the time you have given me to try to persuade you to let her out. You have already listened to me way more than you had to. I am sure you will do what you think is right. I hope you don’t have to hear from me any more today.

Magistrate:         I will be here for the next twelve hours…

I found out later, he set a bond of $500 secured and she is still in custody on Easter morning.  I sympathize with the magistrate. I understand the dilemma of police required to enforce bad laws. I have heard that some police are giving citations, and others are making donations.  I know that Jesus is with the poor. And, whenever we help someone who is hungry,  or visit someone in prison, we are doing the work as he taught us. (Matt 25). And I should not be surprised that our justice system seems doomed to repeat the mistake of centuries by continually harming the most vulnerable members of our community instead of lifting them up. As I head into Easter I can hear the words so clearly, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

UPDATE - April 1, 2013

So, I went to court first thing Monday morning to start figuring out how to get my client out of the jail. The Clerk's office helped me figure out that the charges in which the magistrate set a bond were from another county, meaning that she had failed to appear in another county and an order was issued for failure to appear. Although she had a new charge for begging in Durham from Friday, she was not arrested on that charge.  Under these circumstances it is normal for a magistrate to set a small bond for a person missing court in another county.  Usually the person is held on that bond in the Durham County jail, until the other county is notified, and they come and get the person for court. This can take several days, even a week or so. I went to Assistant District Attorney Shamieka Rhinehart who called the District Attorney in the other county and suggested they dismiss the charges in that county.  Although it didn't sound like the other county was really interested in prosecuting the begging charge, they would not agree to dismiss it. However, they agreed to an unsecured bond.  This means that we could approach a District Court Judge and tell the judge that prosecutors in both county have agreed that my client should be released until the new court date set in the other county. So, I went to the jail court room where they were holding first appearances and the District Court judge signed the order converting the bond to an unsecured bond.  This allowed the release of my poor client without her having to post any money up front.

In the meantime, I updated members of the church coalition who were consoling my client's husband who was very worried for her, and was moved to tears by all the help his family was receiving. He was deeply appreciative, and gave me a few dollars for coffee. (Because he knows how much I love coffee).

In the end, it looks like she did not spend the weekend in jail on a Durham County charge, and that it was reasonable in our system of justice for the magistrate to issue a bond on friday (not for begging, but for the failure to go to court). It was a lot of effort, time, energy, paper work, and judicial resource to get someone out of jail on a crime that should not be a crime. Another symptom of the criminalization of poverty is that it drains and squanders limited judicial resources away from more serious matters, when those resources could have been used to prevent the poverty. Or, those resources could have been used to investigate and prosecute real crimes, serious crimes, and violent crimes.