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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
National
Bristow Marchant

SC county settles ACLU lawsuit over ‘debtor’s prison,’ promises improved public defense

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lexington County, South Carolina, has reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by several people who had been jailed in the county for a failure to pay court fines and fees, who compared their situation to a modern-day “debtor’s prison.”

Lexington County Council voted Tuesday to approve a settlement with the plaintiffs who sued in 2017 after they had been locked up at the county detention center over a variety of unpaid court costs.

Council members did not disclose the terms of the settlement in a public vote Tuesday, but details were spelled out in a federal court filing on Thursday.

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