Oh Good Lord

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

This morning, two African-American men from Dothan, Alabama, Johnathan Reese and Greg Tiller, realized they’d missed a court date Monday and turned themselves in to a local bondsman, Rickey Stokes, to try to get a new court date. There were no warrants for their arrest.

Stokes proceeded to chain the two men to the Courthouse door and left.

(Videos after the jump but they’re auto-play and have ads. Pause them and then watch individually. They’re worth the wait.)

From the Dothan Eagle

Two Dothan men turned themselves in to a local bondsman Wednesday morning after realizing they had missed their court appearance.

Some thirty minutes later, the bondsman chained the two men to the door of the city courtroom and left.

“I felt violated,” said Johnathan Reese, who had missed a Monday court appearance date. “I felt like a slave, for real.”

The bondsman, Rickey Stokes of A Advantage Bonding, said he chained Reese and Greg Tiller to the courtroom door to make a point about what he believes is an inefficient court process with the City of Dothan.

Stokes said he has been frustrated with the process for several years.

“This wasn’t about anything other than trying to resolve an issue that has existed for a long time,” Stokes said Wednesday.

Latest Editors' Blog
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: