Access to Justice Spotlight: Fines & Fees
In April 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Office of Justice Programs, and Office for Access to Justice issued a revised Dear Colleague Letter, which detailed seven …
California AB-645 Vehicles: speed safety system pilot program
The California legislature passed a bill allowing for the use of automated speeding cameras as a pilot program in 6 California counties: Los Angeles, Glendale, Long Beach, San Francisco, San …
Waiving Criminal Court Fees Prevents Harms of Civil Debt
North Carolina law allows judges to order the conversion of financial obligations to civil judgments. Although doing this may protect justice-involved people from driver’s license suspensions, an extension of probation, …
The Ultimate Connecting Families Campaign Guide
Worth Rises is an advocacy organization working to dismantle the prison industry and end the exploitation of incarcerated people and their loved ones, and the lead organizer of the national …
The Fee Trap: Why Alabama’s Local Governments Can’t Shake Fines and Charges
Local governments in Alabama, constrained by the state’s constitutional limits on raising taxes, impose fees and general charges to fund services. As a result, lower-income people pay a more significant …
Forgotten But Not Gone: A Multi-State Analysis of Modern-Day Debt Imprisonment
The majority of states allow imprisonment as a direct result of failing to pay (FTP) court debt. This report presents findings from a three-state case study that sought to estimate the prevalence …
Probation in Allegheny County
Although probation is seen as an alternative to incarceration, it has become a driver of incarceration. Forty percent of people in the Allegheny County Jail are incarcerated because of probation …
Ten Principles of A Public Defense Delivery System
In 2002, the American Bar Association (ABA) adopted ten principles for policymakers, public defense administrators, and other stakeholders to assess their jurisdictions’ compliance with best practices for providing effective indigent …
Civil Rights and Equity of Legal Financial Obligations in North Carolina
Each state has an advisory committee on civil rights composed of members with diverse backgrounds, skills, and experiences that advise the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on civil rights issues …
No License to Drive: Why So Many Ohioans Are Barred From Driving
States surrounding Ohio have eliminated debt-based driver’s license suspensions in recent years, but Ohio continues to issue suspensions for failure to pay court debt. An investigation by Marshall Project–Cleveland and …