Editorial / Commentary A4
ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • OCTOBER 15 - 21, 2015
Legal system for debt collection needs reform This week’s Business page in The American is dominated by a lengthy excerpt from ProPublica’s landmark study on racial disparities in debt collection, “The Color of Debt.” Reporters for the public interest group found that racially disparate patterns in debt collection can be explained in part by the more shallow economic support systems found in many black households and their social networks, but we believe these patterns demand more investigation for possible discriminatory practices. We strongly encourage local, state and national watchdog authorities to follow the trail blazed by ProPublica in investigating these disturbing patterns. As a companion to its news piece, ProPublica prepared an editorial, “Six Ways to Reform the Legal System for Debt Collection,” which we present here with our endorsement. It starts from the premise that laws governing debt collection lawsuits and garnishments are often antiquated, poorly thought out and place the burden on debtors to know their rights. Based on this plain fact, ProPublica and we suggest the following reforms. Lower how much can be taken from debtors’ wages. The federal law limiting wage seizures to 25 percent of after-tax income passed in 1968. Lawmakers appear to have pulled this percentage out of a hat. Some states protect more of a worker’s pay – and four (Texas, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas) prohibit garnishment for most debts. But most states allow the federal level. Federal surveys show that low-income workers can’t afford to lose a quarter of their pay. Restrict how much can be taken from debtors’ bank accounts. The 1968 federal law is so old that it is silent on the subject of bank account garnishments, which are now a common form of debt collection. As a result, a plaintiff can seize no more than a quarter of a worker’s pay, but if that paycheck is deposited into a bank account, the entire amount can be seized. Provide clear notice to debtors about laws that protect them. When states do provide legal protections for debtors – such as allowing those with children to keep more of their pay under a “head of family” exemption – the burden is typically on the debtor to assert these protections. But there’s frequently no clear notice provided to debtors that the protections exist. Limit attorney’s fees to reflect actual work on a suit. When companies sue, they often request an “attorney’s fee,” which is routinely granted and added to the judgment. The fees are usually set at arbitrary, fixed amounts, even though attorneys may spend only a few minutes on a suit. In 2013, we reported that one subprime lender in Mississippi added an attorney fee equal to one-third of the principal balance to each suit, even though the attorney was a company executive. Cut interest on judgments to reasonable level. Under Missouri law, lenders can request that judgments grow at the original loan’s rate of interest. Particularly when high-cost lenders sue, this can result in what one St. Louis judge called
a form of “indentured servitude”: A debt can balloon at triple-digit interest even as the debtors’ wages are seized. A $1,000 loan can become a $40,000 debt, forcing the debtor to declare bankruptcy or make payments for a lifetime. Improve enrollment in programs to help lowincome debtors. Some common plaintiffs, such as utility companies and nonprofit or public hospitals, have an obligation to serve the public. These sorts of entities often have programs to help lower-income patients or customers, and yet, as ProPublica has documented repeatedly, many debtors don’t know about these programs. For example, the Metropolitan Sewer District appears as a villain in ProPublica’s reporting for its aggressive debt collection in low-income neighborhoods. But MSD has a Customer Assistance Program that would have alleviated the burden of many of its customers who were sued, had they know about it. Anyone who may be eligible for low-income discounts on MSD services should call 1-866-281-5737 or email billingquest@stlmsd.com and ask about its Customer Assistance Program. The St. Louis American will moderate a ProPublica panel on “The Color of Debt: How Collection Suits Squeeze Black Neighborhoods” 4:30-6 p.m. Thursday, November 5 at Washington University School of Law, Anheuser Busch Hall, Room 310. The panel includes Rev. Starsky Wilson, co-chair of the Ferguson Commission and president & CEO of the Deaconess Foundation; St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones; Karen Tokarz, Washington University professor of law and AfricanAmerican studies; and Paul Kiel, ProPublica reporter. The Black Law Students Association at WUSTL is the host.
Commentary
The GOP’s ‘real black president’ Earl Ofari Hutchinson Guest columnist News mogul Rupert Murdoch stirred mild fury when he claimed GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson would be a “real black president.” Forget the racial insult, the stock rightwing putdown of Obama, and the fact that this preposterous dig came from Murdoch. What is more interesting is Murdock’s rationale. Carson would bridge the racial divide, says Murdoch, and that means he’d be the true unifier the country needs. There’s really no need to recite the long and steadily growing litany of Carson’s idiocies – comparing Obamacare to slavery, claiming that arming kindergarten teachers is the way to stop a mass killer, and equating homosexuality with bestiality. Or even his reach back a millennium to chastise the citizens of Pompeii for not running away from the lava to save their lives when Vesuvius erupted. Carson initially got and keeps currency because he’s black and can be relied on to make the most ridiculous, media-grabbing quips on anything that crosses his mind. But as Murdoch hints in his “real black president” tout of Carson, he can say what GOP ultraconservatives and unreconstructed bigots want to say about Obama, but it just sounds better coming out of Carson’s mouth. The GOP has turned this tactic into a studied art with
black conservatives such as Clarence Thomas. But Carson makes far better copy than Thomas, because, unlike Thomas, Carson actually speaks. In the Obama era, the GOP has worked overtime to tout, cultivate, prop up and showcase a motley collection of black GOP candidates for a scattering of offices. The aim is twofold: to find that someone who can have just enough luster to counterbalance Obama while at the same time allowing the party to thump its chest and claim it’s not racist. But how would this “real black president” actually govern? Carson has so far not put pen to paper and laid out a comprehensive program and Guest Columnist position on Earl Ofari the budget, Hutchinson government spending, civil rights enforcement, the environment, crime control, the military or foreign policy. Carson’s position’s on the issues must be pieced together from his statements in debates and interviews and speeches He will spend big on and radically expand the size of the military. He backs the use of torture in fighting terrorism He will boost trade and eliminate deficits by imposing “stiff tariffs” on all imported goods. On civil rights and civil liberties, he sees no
pattern of racial profiling in the disproportionate number of minority arrests. He touts stand your ground laws. And on his signature worry, gay rights, he will accept gay marriage because it’s the law, but would do nothing to expand protections and rights for gays. He would covertly spy on government workers to make sure they are not slacking off. And he would unilaterally cut the budget by 10 percent for every government agency. Public education would go the same way. He called it a “propaganda system.” He would ignite a stampede by the government to back vouchers, charter schools, and any and every type of private school. Since he has relentlessly attacked the Affordable Care Act, he would cheer yet another effort to gut, if not outright eliminate, it. He has called the climate change argument “distracting and irrelevant.” He will give a fresh nod to creationism in the schools. Likewise, given his staunch pro-life, anti-abortion view, he will ban all abortions soon after fertilization and absolutely oppose any abortion for “convenience” Carson’s fervent backers see all of this as the prescription for a new type of White House. It would, in fact, be nothing short of a colossal disaster. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author, political analyst, associate editor of New America Media and weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One.
As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues
Economic development and civil rights By Eric E. Vickers Guest Columnist In December the City of St. Louis will reach a 25 year milestone – the law requiring that 25 percent of all city contracts be awarded to minority-owned businesses and 5 percent to women-owned businesses – which presents an opportune time to assess the economic status of African Americans in our city. On December 11, 1990, U.S. District Court Judge Clyde Cahill – the sole black federal district judge at the time – signed off on a consent decree that was the result of a lawsuit I filed against the City of St. Louis on behalf of the St. Louis Minority Contractors Association, as special counsel to the Washington, D.C.-based Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. Under the terms of the decree, the city established these percentages and a minority and women business enterprise (M/WBE) program through a mayoral executive order, which was to remain in effect until such time as a similar M/WBE ordinance was enacted by the Board of Aldermen. Because of vehement opposition from South Side aldermen, such an ordinance was never passed, with the decree thus remaining in effect through subsequent mayoral administrations renewing the executive order. This law, which has become known in the construction
industry simply as “The 25/5,” established for the first time in the city’s history an institutionalized mechanism for M/WBE inclusion. Prior to the decree, the level of minority and women business participation was negotiated on a project by project basis, with black politicians, like then Comptroller Virvus Jones, pressing the issue. It is worth noting in this Ferguson era that the decree came about through the process and combination of litigation, agitation and negotiation. The lawsuit was Guest Columnist filed in 1989, and as it was Eric E. being litigated Vickers – with vigorous opposition from the city – protest actions were being carried out by the association, including one that entailed a group of us being arrested for blockading a construction site. The protests reached a pinnacle point when then Mayor Vincent Schoemehl was confronted and verbally assaulted by demonstrators one morning in front of City Hall. He dealt with the situation head on, inviting us to meet in his office that afternoon. After that rancorous and name-calling meeting and a series of follow up meetings, we were able to come to an agreement. We carved out the terms of the decree, crafting it from the best
Letters to the Editor Proud awardee To be verbally acknowledge for something you’ve done is a reward within itself, but when recognized in the community makes the honor that much more rewarding. With a grateful heart I am writing to thank you and everyone associated with the St. Louis American Foundation for such a magnificent Salute experience. When informed that I would be an awardee for the 2015 Salute to Excellence in Education, I didn’t know what to expect. Having gone through it all, I am forever grateful. Everything about the event exceeds “class,” and I am proud to have been a part of it. The plaque I received is absolutely beautiful and now sits front and center with other awards I’ve received. I’m using the monetary grant to purchase classroom resources to further support the needs of the students I serve. As I bring my career to a close, this event will forever be a very proud moment for me. I plan to attend the 2016 Salute to Excellence and am looking forward to it. Alicia Davis Via email
Positive roadmap for police I want to commend the Department of Justice and the St. Louis County Police Department for collaborating to produce a wide-ranging, voluntary review which lays out a positive roadmap to make our community safer and to restore trust. I urge Chief Jon Belmar and the department to fully embrace these positive changes to regain and sustain the respect of the entire community that they serve. I strongly agree with the core recommendations, which include aggressive recruitment and hiring of more black and female officers; upgrading training for new and current officers to emphasize diversity, cultural sensitivity, de-escalation and community policing; and reforming the promotion system to reward officers who excel at building partnerships with the community.
M/WBE programs in place in other cities. More important than establishing this as the policy of the city, however, was the tone for minority economic inclusion it established for the region. It had an immediate ripple effect, with other institutions, like the St. Louis Public Schools, following suit to establish M/WBE mandates. Moreover, it staked out black economic development as a critical civil rights issue. With the Ferguson Commission report noting our dire, racially disparate economic climate, we should pause at this 25-year juncture to evaluate the decree’s impact and the effectiveness of its enforcement. The theory underlying it was that the development of minority businesses would create jobs for minorities, who would be employed by these businesses, and hence enhance the economic condition of the black community. Promoting black entrepreneurship was seen as key to what the founder of the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund, U.S. Rep. Parren Mitchell, said was the final phase of the civil rights struggle – the struggle for economic parity. Arguably, until that phase is completed, black lives will remain devalued. Eric E. Vickers is an attorney, activist and former chief of staff for state Senator Jamilah Nasheed.
All letters are edited for length and style.
I also want to commend Chief Belmar for his leadership by requesting this voluntary review. That spirit of transparency and transformation is vital to reforming local law enforcement. Community policing can only succeed by first building a strong foundation of trust and honest communication. U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay Washington, D.C.
Congress must act I urge your publication to publish an editorial urging Congress to pass important Medicare Part D and prescription drug bills. Passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act (H.R. 3261 and S. 1884) would create one or more Medicareadministered prescription drug plans to compete with the expensive, privately administered prescription drug plans currently offered
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under Medicare Part D. The bill would also require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower drug prices. Or, passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (S. 31 and H.R. 3061) would empower Medicare to negotiate for the best possible prices of prescription medications for Medicare Part D. Passage of the Personal Drug Importation Fairness Act of 2015 (H.R. 2623) would give access to safe, reasonably priced prescription drugs by allowing importation and reimportation of prescription drugs from countries with safety standards that are at least as strong as those of the United States. Or, passage of the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act (S. 122 and H.R. 2228) would allow individuals to import safe prescription drugs from our northern neighbors. Alf Harris Saint Charles
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