New to Clearinghouse Archives - Page 17 of 17 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

The Cost Trap: How Excessive Fees Lock Oklahomans Into the Criminal Justice System Without Boosting State Revenue

Oklahoma’s court system imposes fees for every type of case, and over the last two decades, those fees have grown enormously in both size and amount. Fees assessed on Oklahomans …

A Proposal to End Regressive Taxation Through Law Enforcement

Across the country, jurisdictions have repurposed their police officers into revenue-generating agents through the assessment and enforcement of fines, fees, and seizures. In addition to the economic and legal burdens, …

The Debt Penalty: Exposing the Financial Barriers to Offender Reintegration

Contact with the criminal legal system often results in the assessment of fines and fees. For people who are indigent or subject to other financial obligations such as child support …

As Court Fees Rise, The Poor Are Paying The Price

Many government services in the criminal justice system, which were once free, are now charged to defendants, many of which are low-income individuals who cannot afford them. By the 1980s, …

Shadow Citizens: Felony Disenfranchisement and The Criminalization of Debt

Many states infringe on individuals’ rights to vote; nearly 5.58 million Americans have lost the right to vote due to criminal convictions–many of them people of color and the poor. …

The Price To Call Home: State-Sanctioned Monopolization In The Prison Phone Industry

The monopolization of the prison phone industry has resulted in exorbitant prison phone call prices with companies promising to pay kickbacks to the state prison system in order to win …