Local Governments Collected $9 Billion in Fines And Fees in 2020
The use of fines and fees to generate revenue can be exploitative and a conflict of interest when relied on as an essential source of revenue. Using data from the …
The Cost of Parking: A Preliminary Analysis of Parking Tickets Data in Austin, Minneapolis, and Portland
Parking tickets can serve as an entry point to the criminal legal system when left unpaid, causing lifelong financial burdens. Additional consequences include suspended driver’s licenses, loss of voting rights, …
Broken Rules: Laws Meant to End Debtors’ Prisons are Failing Nebraskans
Nebraska law has safeguards that should prevent people from being incarcerated solely because they cannot afford a fee or fine. Some include statutes that require considering a person’s ability to …
Council on Policing Reforms and Race: Council Findings and Recommendations
The Council on Policing Reforms and Race released more than fifty recommendations to address policing and public safety. The Council is an independent, non-partisan initiative formed by the National Policing …
Community Supervision Part 1: Fees and Fines
Financial penalties can serve as a barrier to successful rehabilitation and reentry. In addition to fines and restitution, probationers and parolees can be assessed supervision fees, court fees, technology fees, …
The Burden of Court Debt on Washingtonians
The majority of Washingtonians assessed legal financial obligations (LFOs) meet state indigency standards, and their low payment rates suggest their debts are uncollectible. In Washington, the inability to pay criminal …
Policy Blueprint For Ending Carceral Profiteering
Each year, over 4,000 private corporations generate $80 billion by exploiting incarcerated people’s need to stay in contact with their loved ones and access medical care, quality food, and hygiene …
Assessments and Surcharges: A 50-State Survey of Supplemental Fees
Examining statutes and rules from all 50 states and D.C, this new report uncovers a system of hidden taxes that are assessed in nearly every criminal, traffic or local ordinance …
High-Frequency Location Data Shows That Race Affects The Likelihood of Being Stopped and Fined For Speeding
Prior research on race, speeding, and citations has focused on the effects of a driver’s race on the punishment received, never exploring whether race could also influence the probability of …
Regressive Revenue Perpetuates Poverty: Why Georgia’s Fines and Fees Need Immediate Reform
More than 300 localities in Georgia use revenue from fines and fees to balance their budgets, and 20 percent do so at rates researchers consider high and abusive. Georgians who …