Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Oh this is rich: Ferguson, Missouri judge Ronald J. Brockmeyer—who uses harsh fines and penalties against residents who don’t pay their traffic tickets—owes $170,000 in back taxes to the government, The Guardian found. Brockmeyer's creation of several new court fees are "widely considered abusive and may be unlawful," according to the Department of Justice, which also named him as one of the officials who dismissed tickets for themselves and friends. The feds say Brockmeyer's fines are part of a racially biased system that punishes blacks to fund the city. (Brockmeyer apparently didn't read the DoJ report.) Brockmeyer’s court is the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit alleging imprisonment of “a human being solely because the person could not afford to make a monetary payment.”