Tony Messenger's Pulitzer Prize-winning submission
The Pulitzer Prize board considered these columns when it decided to award the prize for commentary to metro columnist Tony Messenger. Their note said the award was "for bold columns that exposed the malfeasance and injustice of forcing poor rural Missourians charged with misdemeanor crimes to pay unaffordable fines or be sent to jail."
(10) updates to this series since
In rural Missouri, minor offenses often turn into massive debt and jail time.
Rob Hopple had been in jail since May after falling behind on payments on an ankle bracelet. Court dates kept coming and going, with the prose…
Bergen has the sort of back story that would inspire one of the movies or television episodes based in the Ozarks that seem to be all the rage…
Misdemeanor charge turns into more than $7,000 in jail bills. More than a decade after the crime, judge is trying to collect.Â
The Missouri Supreme Court and Missouri Legislature should revisit their 2015 and 2016 efforts to reform courts. More work is necessary.
Because Precious Jones was late to jail, prosecutor and judge seek to add to her sentence.
While Caldwell County rakes in cash from poor people in its jail, Stoddard County doesn't charge them. Why? It's wrong, says presiding commiss…
Court costs keep St. Louis woman tied to Camden County courts 12 years after she was charged and did her time.Â
Some counties in Missouri don't charge board bills. Those include the most urban counties in the state: both the city and county of St. Louis,…
Messenger found defendants across the state who had fulfilled their sentences and served out their paroles only to be saddled with thousands of dollars in "board bills" for the time they spent in jail.