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National Fines & Fees Reform Movement Charts Course for More Victories in 2024

When this organization started six years ago we could never have predicted the breadth and pace of fines and fees reform that would unfold across the nation. And still, our work is just beginning. Here our Deputy Executive Director, Priya Sarathy Jones shares insights about FFJC’s first-ever Fines and Fees Advocacy Summit, our robust national reform strategy, and how we are revving up for more 2024 victories.

Nevada Ends Exploitative Incarceration Costs While Laying Groundwork for Future Misdemeanor Reform

FFJC Nevada together with our key partners across the state were able to successfully pass significant fine and fee reform in the 2023 legislative session with bipartisan support from the Democratic controlled legislature and newly elected Republican governor. We also thwarted efforts to impose new fees in the criminal legal system and set the groundwork for future misdemeanor reform.

Why Are We Still Sending People to Jail for Being Poor? It’s Time to Truly Abolish Debtors’ Prisons

While courts continue to impose fines and fees, we need to be sure that they aren’t trapping people in a cycle of debt, punishment, and incarceration that is difficult to escape. Effective ability-to-pay policies must include a presumption that some individuals will not be able to pay court-imposed costs. Having a court-appointed attorney, being on government assistance, qualifying for public housing, or being unable to work should be recognized as the markers of poverty that they are, and courts must stop jailing those unable to pay.
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