WASHINGTON -- Justice Department officials warned U.S. judges and court administrators this week that practices like incarcerating poor people without determining whether they could afford outstanding fines are illegal and unconstitutional.

But civil rights advocates with clients who've had their lives torn apart after being accused of petty crimes, receiving traffic tickets or charged with municipal code violations say the feds have a much more effective method of fixing the widespread problem: locking up judges.

In a nine-page letter sent to all state chief justices and state court administrators on Monday, the DOJ's Vanita Gupta, who heads the Civil Rights Division , and Lisa Foster, the director of the Office of Access to Justice , urged local officials to "review court rules and procedures within your jurisdiction to ensure that they comply with due process, equal protection, and sound public policy."