PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Beth M. Huebner
AU  - Andrea Giuffre
TI  - Reinforcing the Web of Municipal Courts: Evidence and Implications Post-Ferguson
AID  - 10.7758/RSF.2022.8.1.05
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
PG  - 108--127
VI  - 8
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/1/108.short
4100  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/1/108.full
AB  - Investigations in Ferguson, Missouri, revealed that many individuals, particularly Black people, entered the criminal justice system for relatively minor offenses, missed court appearances, or failure to pay fines. Municipal courts were focused on revenue generation, which led to aggressive enforcement of municipal codes. Although subsequent reforms were passed, little is known about whether and how the legislative changes influenced the law-in-action in the municipal courts. Using data from qualitative interviews with St. Louis area residents and regional court actors, as well as court observations, this article documents the legal structure of municipal courts in the region after Ferguson. We address how the parochial nature of municipal courts in St. Louis County perpetuates the financial marginalization of residents through the layering of punishment, and how the state legal structure further facilitates control, even after reform.