Paid in full: Responding to report, reader clears ex-con’s debt

On Monday, in "Court fees trap ex-inmates in a prison of debt," Al Jazeera detailed how, in Washington state, criminal justice debts — fines, fees, court costs and a whopping 12 percent interest rate — prevent men and women with criminal records from starting over.

The story takes place in Spokane County, but the use of punitive monetary charges has been on the rise across the United States since the 1980s, when the "drug war" intensified, pushing millions of Americans into the legal system. Public court systems have since looked to private "user fees" as a form of revenue.

Shaunte "Tay" Rowe, one of the men featured in Monday's story, has struggled to pay off thousands of dollars in fees and restitution since 2004. He lives just east of Spokane city, in one of the rare apartments willing to rent to ex-inmates. His employment has been unsteady and so have his payments to the local county clerk.

Upon learning of the $1,200 Rowe still owed on his criminal justice debts, James Moses, an Al Jazeera reader and archaeologist in Arizona, volunteered to offer payment in full. "I firmly believe that debt is the overarching reason for income and economic inequality, regardless of race," Moses wrote in an email.

Rowe accepted Moses' contribution, relieved to put his felony obligations to rest. Tens of thousands of other Washingtonians remain mired in past debts from felonies, misdemeanors and even traffic violations. Without their own good Samaritans, the shadow of their misdeeds may never go away.