In the past few weeks, I've seen people in tears, calling family members and begging them to come to the court with cash.
I've seen defendants end up in jail over minor violations - violations that other defendants simply had to write a check to get out of.
For the last five weeks my fellow interns and I have been observing courtrooms all over southeastern Michigan.
We saw many defendants who are forced to choose between paying a hefty fine or spending time in jail. This type of sentence, called pay or stay, is constitutionally questionable and ethically dubious. Unfortunately, it is also very common.
Even a trivial crime can mean a jail sentence, as defendants wrack up thousands of dollars in fines and court fees. Often, the defendants we saw were out of work or working low paying jobs. Sometimes they were taking care of other family members.
In almost every area we visited, we found that when defendants had money, they left the court that very day. Less wealthy defendants left the court in handcuffs. It was as clear and simple as that.
The same crime shouldn't have different consequences based on the size of a defendant's savings account.
Last week, the ACLU launched a challenge to these unconstitutional pay-or-stay sentences on behalf of five individuals.
I'm proud that my colleagues and I have had a hand, not only in getting these people out of jail and back home, but in hopefully bringing this unjust practice to an end.
By Marc Allen, legal intern