Last fall, I started writing a series on "prosecution fees," a legal trick used in California cities

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David Fahrenthold Retweeted:

More investigative reporting for results from the @USATODAY Network.

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Last fall, I started writing a series on “prosecution fees,” a legal trick used in California cities that makes poor people pay a small fortune for tiny crimes. Today, because of my series, Gov. Jerry Brown made prosecution fees illegal. This is the power of local journalism. 1/

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Today, I work for @Tennessean in Nashville, but I wrote this series as an investigative reporter at @MyDesert, a badass little newspaper in the Coachella Valley. It is home to some of the hungriest young journalists in Southern California.

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My reporting began, as it often does, with a court filing. Cesar Garcia filed a lawsuit saying Coachella City Hall was blackmailing him for $31K. He owned a grocery store in the desert pit stop of Blythe. His wife ran a daycare. They were hard working; comfortable but not rich.

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Cesar’s allegations were strange: He had expanded his house without a building permit, got caught and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor crimes. Months later, the city surprised him with a huge bill, demanding he pay to prosecute himself. Lawyers threatened to take his house.

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Immediately, I wanted to know if this case was a fluke. Was Coachella doing this to other people? I wasn’t sure. So I filed a public records request using a key phrase from Cesar’s lawsuit – “prosecution fees.”

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I filed the request with Coachella City Hall, then sent a duplicate request to the neighboring the city of Indio. Both cities employed the same law firm, Silver & Wright, so I had a hunch they might use the same tricks in court.

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The next story was easy. The @IJ , a libertarian public-interest law firm, jumped int the fray. Citing my reporting, they filed a lawsuit on behalf of Ramona Morales, an Indio landlord. The city billed her $7,600 because her tenant had backyard chickens.

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