Who Pays for Government? Descriptive Representation and Exploitative Revenue Sources
This study found that cities with larger black populations are more likely to use fines to generate revenue, but black legislators reverse that pattern.
Research Note: Justice System–Imposed Financial Penalties Increase the Likelihood of Recidivism in a Sample of Adolescent Offenders
The authors of this study analyze the effects of financial penalties (fines, fees, and restitution) two years after being imposed on 1,167 youth with a supervision status of adjudicated delinquent …
Confronting Criminal Justice Debt: A Guide for Policy Reform
This Guide for Policy Reform by Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Policy Program is organized into four issue areas: conflicts of interest, poverty penalties and poverty traps (when people are forced to pay more or face harsher sanctions because of their poverty), the ability-to-pay determination, and transparency and accountability. Under each of these sections, a description of the problem is followed by legislative, judicial, and executive reform suggestions for people at the state level to use and incorporate into their efforts.
Confronting Criminal Justice Debt: A Guide for Litigation
This guide aims to inform litigators about various strategies to defend and gain relief for individual clients burdened by criminal justice debt. It also serves to foster communication and understanding among stakeholders who work in this particular area of the justice system.
Exploitative Revenues, Law Enforcement, and the Quality of Government Service
This study uses US Census data and Uniform Crime Reporting data to assess whether law enforcement participation in revenue collection affects police departments’ ability to solve violent crime.
Disenfranchised by Debt
This report discusses how criminal disenfranchisement laws prevent millions of people from regaining the right to vote because they cannot afford criminal legal fines and fees.
High Pain, No Gain: How Juvenile Administrative Fees Harm Low-Income Families in Alameda County, California
At the time this report was written, by California law, counties were authorized to recoup the costs of their juvenile justice systems by charging administrative fees to juvenile defendants and their families. This policy report takes a close look at Alameda County’s system of administrative fees.
United States Department of Justice “Dear Colleague” Letter
In March 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and Office for Access to Justice sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to State Court Administrators and Chief Justices in each state clarifying the legal framework that governs the enforcement of fines and fees, including the importance of procedural protections and, in appropriate cases, the right to counsel.
Debtors’ Prison for Kids? The High Cost of Fines and Fees in the Juvenile Justice System
This report documents how and when youth and families face fines, fees and restitution and the economic and legal consequences for failure to pay.
Fines, Fees, And Bail- Payments In The Criminal Justice System That Disproportionately Impact The Poor
This brief provides background information on criminal justice system fines, fees, and bail and argues that these costs disproportionately impact poor people.