Jose Young was blunt about his predicament: “It’s all so crazy.”
That’s what the disabled Alabamian kept emphasizing when I visited him at his home in the small town of Chickasaw, Alabama. Young had just been criminally charged over a garbage collection bill he had been unable to pay—and he wasn’t alone.
He was one of more than 180 Chickasaw residents who I found had been criminally prosecuted by the town for nonpayment of garbage bills.
Chickasaw had passed an ordinance in 2021, giving it authority to issue a criminal summons or arrest a resident who falls behind on garbage or sewer bills—basic municipal services.
Lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center sent a letter to the Chickasaw city attorney on the residents’ behalf. They pointed out that the city’s ordinance violated multiple constitutional provisions, and state and federal laws that prohibit jailing anyone for debt. The lawyers received no response.
It seemed like a case ripe for the court of public opinion. After I met with Young, I conducted more than a dozen interviews with Chickasaw residents. Shaquala Jackson, a young Black mother whose landlord told her that the garbage collection fee was included in her rent, was among them.
In fact, she didn’t know that the garbage bill was going unpaid by her landlord. Jackson found herself on the hook, and she couldn’t pay in full, so the mother of three was prosecuted. Her trash, uncollected, piled up. When her three-year-old screamed at the sight of a rat, Jackson decided to leave the home she loved.
I reviewed hundreds of pages of court records, documenting the impact of the city’s ordinance—passed by an all-white city council—and found that it disproportionately harmed women and Black residents.
Less than a week after ICN published my story, it was republished and cited by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Capital B News, Black Enterprise, and more. It racked up thousands of views and reactions across social media sites, and public outrage grew. Chickasaw officials broke their silence. They notified the residents’ lawyers that the city was dropping all charges for nonpayment of garbage bills.
Partly as a result of ICN’s reporting, the Alabama Legislature is now considering a ban explicitly prohibiting municipalities from criminalizing unpaid garbage bills.
This is an example of ICN impact: a satisfying result that shows how journalism can bring relief and a measure of justice to vulnerable citizens. I will keep an eye on these cases and how the town clears up its billing.
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