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Letter to the Editor: Quarterback ‘brave’ for demonstrating his disgust with racial inequality

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Attorney Frank W. Nocito honored by bar association

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A federal compliance advisory has delayed a late fine collection program the city is depending on to balance this year&#8217;s budget.</p><p>The city budgeted $250,000 in revenues from delinquent magistrate fines, but how much it will receive remains to be seen as a pilot program involving Luzerne County and Navient, a third-party collection agency, has yet to get underway with less than three months remaining in 2016.</p><p>Luzerne County Court Administrator Michael Shucosky said steps had to be taken to make sure the program complied with constitutional issues raised in a March letter from the U.S. Department of Justice.</p><p>&#8220;The feds came out with a stern advisory,&#8221; Shucosky said Monday of the letter from the Civil Rights Division&#8217;s Office for Access to Justice. He provided a copy for review.</p><p>The letter contained a list of directives, backed by case law, for the courts to follow to protect rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and warned of the harm caused by unlawful practices aimed at raising revenues rather than providing public safety.</p><p>&#8220;Individuals may confront escalating debt; face repeated incarceration for nonpayment despite posing no danger to the community; lose their jobs; and become trapped in cycles of poverty that can be nearly impossible to escape,&#8221; the letter said.</p><p>It urged the courts to review rules and procedures &#8220;to ensure that they comply with due process, equal protection, and sound public policy.&#8221;</p><p>Navient will charge a fee for its service and the county will take its share first from the unpaid fines at least a year old. The city and state are next in line for their share. &#8220;These are not major cases,&#8221; Shucosky said</p><p>The fines have been a source of contention for Mayor Tony George, who has questioned the validity of including them as a line-item revenue in the $51.5 million balanced budget left him by his predecessor Tom Leighton.</p><p>&#8220;We didn&#8217;t give them any numbers,&#8221; Shucosky said. He worked with the previous administration on the program involving two city district judges, Rick Cronauer and Thomas Malloy. Adding to the delay was the move of Malloy&#8217;s office from North Sherman Street to the same building on South Pennsylvania Avenue as Cronauer, Shucosky said.</p><p>City Administrator Ted Wampole, who came on earlier this year and did not participate in talks with the county to set up the program, said he was unaware of the reasons for the delay.</p><p>&#8220;Unfortunately it&#8217;s the first I&#8217;ve heard of this,&#8221; Wampole said Tuesday.</p><p>Luzerne County was not singled out, Shucosky said. The letter was issued statewide and the county has been in touch with the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts on how to proceed, he said.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been working with the AOPC because they&#8217;re nervous too,&#8221; Shucosky said of any federal enforcement measures.</p><p>An AOPC spokesman did not return a call for comment Tuesday.</p><p>The AOPC will review and approve an amended contract with Navient before any money can be collected, Shucosky said.</p><p>He said he has printed out a countywide list containing thousands of possibilities for collection, adding some of the people listed might be dead, deported or, as the federal letter indicated, simply incapable of paying.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</p></shirttailMeta></div>

DOJ advisory delays collection of late fines vital to Wilkes-Barre budget