A 49-year-old woman has her case dismissed in Wednesday by an Alabama judge for her unpaid $85 trash bill. Nortasha Johnson is among many Valley, Alabama residents that has been either arrested or prosecuted for not paying their trash bill.
In November 2022, Martha Louis Menefield, a 85-year-old woman, was arrested after failing to appear in court to answer summonses about her arrears on a $77 bill. The Valley Police Department received backlash from the community, and it drew so much attention that rapper Trae the Truth help raised over $30k for her.
Johnson failed to pay three months worth of trash bills and was charged with “failing to pay solid waste.”
“Thank God this part is over,” said Johnson after her case was dismissed.
Last week, Johnson’s lawyers Ellen Degnan and Micah West with the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a motion to throw out the case. They argued on Nov. 30 that the complaint filed against their client did not charge a criminal offense.
“The Alabama and federal constitutions prohibit prosecuting people simply because they cannot pay a garbage bill,” West said in a statement.
“Although we are pleased that Ms. Jackson’s ordeal is over, the city of Valley is currently prosecuting other people for violating a statute that does not make nonpayment a crime. We ask officials to dismiss those charges, too, and to take proactive steps to ensure that people who fall behind on their trash bills are not unfairly punished for their poverty.”
In addition, Johnson lawyers stated that she was indigent and did not willfully neglect or refuse to comply with payment notice of the trash bill. They argued that in Alabama, “willfulness” is needed to charge residents with a crime for nonpayment of bills.
“Ms. Johnson lives well below the federal poverty line during normal times. She was under even greater financial strain during the summer of 2022, when the City initiated this case, because she was…
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