Everyone with a warrant or who thinks they might have a warrant should turn themselves in on Jan. 1.
What would happen if everybody with a warrant turned themselves in on the same day? In one jurisdiction, if only 25, 50 or 100 people were willing to do it, the cracks in the system would immediately become apparent, even to those who prefer to turn a blind eye to the realities of our criminal justice system.
Each state issues thousands of warrants. Nationwide, there are tens of thousands of outstanding warrants. A person could control his or her destiny and deal with that outstanding probation warrant from an old arrest, confront the drug charge he’s been running from, or finally move on with jobs, family and community life without looking over her shoulder. And the governments — local, county and state — may be forced to deal with the nightmare of a system they have created.
It works like this: If you have a warrant you turn yourself in on Jan. 1. It’s that simple. Stop looking over your shoulder wondering if a police officer is going to rip you out of your day-to-day life and leave your family without your support. Clear your outstanding record so you can work on getting that license or ID card without fear that you’ll be arrested. Work on getting your situation resolved so you can move on to work, school and life without the constant stress of the risk of arrest.
The issues of mass incarceration and over-representation of people of color in the criminal justice system constantly hover in the background in a wide range of public debates. Whether citizens are arguing about why there isn’t enough money to treat mental health in our local community or why some communities have a population of working-age males removed from the workforce because they’re in jail or indirectly through a work history and job search tainted by a criminal history — the common background issue is the stigma of jail and prison. The same society squabbling over helping a single mother and her children with food stamps or assisting her with subsidised rent will happily pay more than $75 a day to keep the children’s father in jail for a nonviolent drug offense (but won’t pay for treatment for his addiction — a complaint for another time).
In the end, the money for incarceration is not limitless, despite appearances. Jails and prisons have been over-rewarded in our systems. This is easy because the various government agencies get to spend other people’s money.
Traffic officers can issue tickets that can lead to expensive warrants later on when a citizen has to choose between losing a job or showing up to court.
The city can crack down on homeless campers downtown in response to political pressures with little direct cost. The police don’t have to pay for the prosecution or the jail.
The prosecutor in many jurisdictions is an elected county-level position. The prosecutor’s agency doesn’t pay the overtime for the police in court nor does he have any expenses for the time of the judicial branch, the public defenders or the jails.
Courts can and do sentence without considering at all the cost of the probation, jail or prison sentence.
The probation department, the sheriff or the Department of Corrections simply receives the inmates and has to spend money on them no matter where they came from or whether the person “deserves” the expense. One officer on the street can cost the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars for what was really a completely discretionary case.
So given this system of agencies spending other agencies’ money, why a Warrant Day? Take the discretion away. Make the cost of these decisions immediately apparent. Force the issue. Instead of a managable trickle, let them see the world they have created all at once. Do it on the individual’s terms, not theirs.
People without warrants can help too: If you go to a church and there are people and families whose members have outstanding warrants, offer to help and encourage them to turn themselves in on January 1. If you work in a social service agency, a criminal defense firm, an outreach agency working with people in crisis, a food bank, a housing agency, a mental health provider or anywhere where you encounter people confronting the system on a regular basis help clients get ready for it and turn themselves in on Jan. 1. Get a group together. Two or three people walking up to the same officer and saying “arrest us on our warrants please” as members of their church or support network watch would be an amazing thing to watch, and maybe lead to a better system down the road. Ten, 20 or 100 people doing the same thing forces the criminal justice system to pay attention to exactly what we are prioritizing.
Don’t do it blindly. You should get your business in order. Memorize a phone number. Get money together ahead of time. Get several people together and do it at the same time. Five people walking into the police station or jail have more moral strength and dignity than one person alone at night in a dark traffic stop. But most importantly do it on your own terms. Instead of losing the family car in a traffic stop or not showing up at work because you are in jail and have no one to call. Show up on Jan. 1 and say “You want me? For my driving while suspended conviction? For not paying my surprisingly high fines and collection costs? OK. Here I am. Spend money on me.
Let’s get this done. And let’s get the other thousands of cases walking in today across the state and nation done too. And then we can talk about priorities.”
Chris O'Connor is a local attorney working in criminal defense. His views are not made on behalf of his employer or any client.