>> how often do you say you have been to jail? >> about 50. 50 times. >> "america tonight's" lori jane gliha, in ferguson with justice denied. thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. we tend to see the spark that ignited ferguson, missouri, last summer as the death of one man, the unarmed teenager mike brown, at the hands of a white police officer. but the investigation unlocked a horrible reality, the real fuel that burned in this flash point. a year later, with that reality exposed "america tonight's" lori jane gliha went back to ferguson to find out what if anything has changed. >> this is the car that i lived in. this is my white lightning who endured just as much as we did. >> reporter: this was once kiana williams home and the car she was in when police arrested her last june. >> i went straight to jail and i stayed there for two weeks. >> reporter: it isn't the first time she had been locked up in st. louis county but it was enough to make her stop driving. how many times do you think you've been to court been to jail gotten fines and fees? >> oh my gosh, a lot. all mixed together, i want to say about 50. >> 50 times? >> about 50 times. >> these are all the final cases. >> the 37-year-old says she's not a hardened criminal. >> you still had another $300 fee two days later for many of the same case numbers? she's guilty of traffic violations and failing to pay the fines and fees that go with them. >> it snowballed into just a cycle of debt and imprisonment. i want people to know that i'm not a criminal. i've not been arrested for anything other than traffic tickets. hair is growing so much. >> williams says she grew up poor and simply never had enough money to pay for fines and fees while also trying to care for her daughter royal. it all started when she was a teen and first arrested for driving without a license. >> what would have happened if, when you first got your first ticket, you were able to pay that in full? >> i imagine my life being very different. i imagine finishing my degree. i imagine being able to earn a living. i imagine i wouldn't be sitting here today. >> williams story isn't unique in a region of municipalities each within 80 miles of each other. every one of them have their own municipal courts. >> fundamentally there's a failure to accept that there are poor people in this region. and that they didn't get there by choice. >> williams attorney, thomas harvey, says the system is stacked against low income individuals. >> the underlying issue is on low level contact with the justice system poor people and minorities are being disproportionately and negatively impacted. they're being asked to pay money they will never be able to pay and as a result of the nonpayment of those fines they are being incarcerated. >> harvey is suing municipalities for what he says are debtors prisons. ferguson, missouri which has been under a microscope since last august. police tactics and the justice system came under intense scrutiny. >> hey hey, ho ho, these killer cops they got to go. >> ferguson is now working to reform its court system after the department of justice found some of its practices to be unconstitutional. in a march report, the department of justice says the city's revenue collection system, especially those living in or near poverty, critics accused the mayor of pushing a budget that relied heavily on tickets and fines. >> do you think that's an appropriate way to gather revenue for the city or to be handling things in the city? >> it's never meant to be a source of revenue like sales tax or property tax. it is simply a part of the criminal justice system. this is accessorized as i charaf ferguson is the only municipality in the area to do this. >> even before the department of justice report was announced, it also capped the amount of revenue the city could generate from traffic tickets and allowed for some arrest warrants to be recalled. in june, city leaders brought in a new municipal court judge, donald mccullen, to manage the reforms. >> i do not make my decisions based on revenue. i make them based on justice. >> reporter: in his first national tv interview mccullen told "america tonight" he's going to be making changes in ferguson's justice system. >> i have the direction in terms of what needs to be done. some of those processes have already taken place. >> mccullen has more than adecade of experience on the circuit court bunch in missouri and he says he has firsthand knowledge of the problems people face. >> i do understand the problems of the poor. i understood what it was to be poor. i have been poor. i had problems consolidating paying bills. >> even with mccullen now in charge he's only going to be on the perch for ten months. he's 74 years old. and according to state law he has to retire by 75. how much can you really accomplish in ten months? >> i think you can accomplish a lot. i think much has been accomplished already so we've addressed most of those concerns. it is not a difficulty process to address the concerns. ferguson could become the best example in america of how to address the legal issues of poor people. it still doesn't change the lives of most poor people in this region. because fer ferguson is one isld in the middle of 90 other towns. no one lives their entire life in ferguson, missouri. >> a 15 minute drive across the county could take you to at least four different cities. kiana williams has been jailed or fined in many of them. there could be many more. >> this is not just a ferguson problem though i know lots of people who have been arrested in ferguson, i've not even been arrested in ferguson. but, you know, that should just show you that, you know, it's -- all of these counties in st. louis. >> reporter: williams worries people like her will continue to be trapped in the municipal court system. but after last year's protests she does see a change on the horizon. >> i think people are just now understanding their power. >> with the help of her attorney she was able to clear up her history. >> what does that mean you can drive legally? >> it's bittersweet. because now i can legally drive but i don't have anything to drive, or it's a very bittersweet situation. >> reporter: though months of neglect has left her car in need of major repair, williams says she's looking ahead with the thought of no major jail time. >> i want to be able to support my family on my own. i want to be able to enter the world where i can earn a living wage. you know, i want to be able to finish my degree without being arrested. you know, i just want to be a normal citizen. a normal part of society. >> "america tonight's" lori jane gliha is in ferguson for us again. lori jane, this has provoked a much wider discussion going past the courts of ferguson in other parts of the state as well. >> yes, the governor signed a bill last month to address other municipalities because there are several other cities in the area that have the same issue that ferguson does. what the courts will do is moving these situations back to justice based systems. it reduces the amount a city can bring in for variation traffic c violations. whether that person should have community service and there is an element of accountability, there is sanction he for the cities if they don't comply. >> we know there's quite a bit of media attention focused, as well leadership stepping up as well. you had an opportunity to talk earlier in the day with the governor. >> reporter: i did. he talked about how he feels more people are exited to a long progress. he was happy and called it a long march. , labseenhanced training for law enforcement. the task force he appointed last november to look at the underlying issues that led to the arrest here, and next month joie chen, they will present him with a list of things that will make things better, courts, economic opportunity and education. >> "america tonight's" lori jane gliha will continue to watch the story. thanks so much. >> next. the armed forces, america's police departments. later, black lives manner this a place you might not expect. why the deaths of mike brown and freag memorialized in bras. >> caring for the most vulnerable and the evidence that some kinds of nursing homes are putting profits over patients. that's at wif aljazeera.com/americatonight. >> our fast forwards segment gibs witbegins with a look backo ferguson. local police loaded up with the kind of gear we expect to see in front line military situations. "america tonight's" lori jane gliha and the fighting in force. >> the fighting in ferguson has called down. the lines of officers like these have gone away and the roads are now clean and clear. but the physical reminders of the clash that lit erd the streets are now front and center in a debate about police strategy and equipment. >> okay so we've been finding all sorts of weapons things like the smoke canister in the field, seen this one here says it's a riot cs smoke multiproject mult. >> looting and store fronts peaceful protests as well as this military vehicle, using various tactics. >> shot with a bane bag gun. >> to disperse the crowds. >> this is chemical irritating agent. >> law enforcement officials defended some of their tactics. >> we have been criticized for using swat trucks during protests. we didn't deploy those into the crowd until things deteriorated and tonight we used a swat truck and another large vehicle to get into a violent dangerous area to extract a gunshot victim. >> but many argued the equipment is too much like the military and less like a police department tasked with protecting the people. >> fast-forward to what has changed in ferguson's armed force. the obama administration did order changes that would limit the military grade equipment police departments can get across the nation. but that doesn't mean taking the existing equipment back. after its analysis of what is still back, the aclu among others is pressing for more action. next a black community in conflict with its police but not where you expect. why ferguson, north are charles, staten island. are reflected in brazil. , next week on "america tonight." tonight." i'm gonna make it happen. >> choices made. >> i'm gonna lose anything left that i have of the mexican culture. >> fighting for their future. >> it is imperative that i get into college. it's my last chance to get out of here. >> the incredible journey continues. al jazeera america gives you the total news experience anytime, anywhere. more on every screen. digital, mobile, social. visit aljazeera.com. follow @ajam on twitter. and like aljazeera america on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. >> for all the coverage of police clashes with minority neighborhoods, ferguson, north charleston, staten island and the rest, you would think that this was unique to this country but it is not. brazil also faces serious allegation os of excessive actis against black minorities. our guide to the streets of bahia state knows racism in both countries. >> my name i. living in a world is designed to believe that your life has no value. i never believed that. i was taught the truth. i knew my people built this country and once i learned that brazil was a product of the same slave trade i became obsessed with comparing systems. so once i got the chance to actually come here i took it. being outdoors is to be connected to african itself whether it's the food you eat, the music you play, those things come directly from your culture, from west africa. brazil is home to the second largest group of afte afro descendants. the celebration of african culture is everywhere here is really important to salvador. i'm really important to be myself in salvador. the level of freedom i have here is huge. i've developed an ease in my skin just living here. here everyone looks like me. where they're my children. in salvador when i look out to see black faces of different shades i feel a sense of amazement. because we weren't supposed to survive, basically. people who were descendant of people who were slaves, he every country tretted us differently in regards to how they wanted to get rid of us. brazil specifically the plan was if we import white people and let them procreate, eventually the black will disappear. but it didn't. the white disappeared, now you have brazil as we know it. so that for me is just really wild. the connection between salvador and baltimore is very strong. salvador is a city full of black folk, poor folk, collected by the government and gentrification is happening very fast here. just as in baltimore and ferguson there is a war against black people. it's always here. living in a police situation with police brutality. i'm inspiring journalist and i have been right now in cabula a site where 13 young black men were massacred during carnival. the police lined them up against wall and shot them. >> in salvador nobody talks about the police, you don't 30 about the police. the police can kill you. police can come and take pictures of people like we're coming for you. police have military type guns and they come through in tanks. this kinds of violence is so common in salvador that it's normal even though black people are majority they take abuse from police. the crazy thing is, many police officers are black themselves but it doesn't matter. they will still kill you for no reason. if they see something from a person not brazilian or tourist, he's dying. pickpockets you tell the police you could get shot on sight. i came to brazil the month that michael brown was killed. i grew up right next to where the riots were occurring in baltimore. most people here were for the people in baltimore. there was a lot of congratulations, we're you, we feel we know exactly what's going on. that was great in the effect that michael brown is on the wall here is so surreal, i wasn't here for the riots but i see the black people honor the black struggle in the state. the fact that i was here in brazil during the incident and to be watching, you know, somebody commemorated here is really cool. and to know that initially i thought a lot of people didn't know but people walking past like well, i know him from the tv. really nice like it's a good memorial and all that stuff. it's not nice that ferguson and baltimore are known in salvador, at the place where they were killed. still very sad. today i'm getting a tattoo, of a quote, which is a portuguese translation of some of us are brave. i felt like that's summed up my experience here. in terms of what it means to be black and to be female, that's what i really learned here in salvador. is how to be a black woman. my whole journey here has been about being brave. salvador will always be with me. i'm not looking forward to being thrust back into all the anger and hate that's in the states right now. i've been living in one of the most dangerous cities in the world with one of the most dangerous police forces, and yet the people still live, they smile at each other and they are affectionate. they haven't lost the sense of their humanity, the form of survival. >> and exposing a surprising reality. that was nea hampton in brazil. that was marianna. tell us what you think, at aljazeera.com/americatonight. on facebook or twitter. and come back. we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. tonight," tomorrow. >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight, power play, we'll show you how small but vocal fringe group wields power, bringing further to the right, while no one is impressed with the steady growth in jobs. america's economy is cruising, 215,000 new jobs added in july and the unemployment rate steady at 5.3%. this is lowest level since the 2008 recession. but even president obama's administration admits there is still slack in the labor market. after all those layoffs. later in the story,

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