MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – David Stojcevski died in the Macomb County Jail.
He was there on a 30-day sentence for failing to show up at scheduled court hearings for two unpaid traffic tickets. Now, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wants the Justice Department to look into the judge who sent him there.
"There are people who can write a check and go home, but people who are poor have to go to jail and that is what we call the new 'debtor's prison,'" said Michael Stenberg, of the ACLU.
Roseville district court Judge Joseph Boedeker would not go on camera but provided a chronology of events indicating Stojcevski did not request a payment plan or additional time to pay at the hearing. The ACLU says that is the judge's responsibility.
"The Supreme Court has made it crystal clear, 30 years ago, that if a judge is going to impose a pay or stay sentence, they must make a determination before imposing the sentence that the person has the ability to pay," said Steinberg.
The ACLU also is asking for a separate federal probe into conditions at the Macomb County Jail, saying the FBI is looking at criminality right now. They want the Justice Department to look at civil rights violations that will change the way the Macomb County Jail operates.
"Anyone who has seen the video has to believe there is something systemically wrong at the Macomb County Jail for someone to be going through withdrawal and twitching on the floor and losing 50 pounds and dying before people's eyes," said Steinberg.