A west Georgia court is jailing people illegally and then making it impossible for them to challenge the violation of their rights by denying them access to their public court records, a lawsuit alleges.
The Southern Center for Human Rights filed the lawsuit last week on behalf of two poor women who were recently jailed after appearing in Recorder's Court in Columbus, about 105 miles southwest of Atlanta near the Alabama border. It says the women want to challenge their convictions and probation revocations, but are unable to access court files their attorneys need to properly investigate or decide on a course of action.
The lawsuit calls the Columbus Recorder's Court "a troubled and dysfunctional institution whose judges and clerks routinely disregard the rights of defendants, including indigent citizens."