50 State Survey: Probation and Parole Fees
A state-by-state look at the scope of probation and parole supervision fees, programming fees, and consequences for failure to pay.
Small Fines And Fees, Large Impacts: Ability-To-Pay Hearings
Excessive fines and fees on low-income people threaten our criminal justice system and violate the Constitution’s Due Process and Excessive Fines Clauses. The Fourteenth and Eighth amendment requires courts to …
The Criminalization Of Poverty In Tennessee
14 percent of Tennessee’s population lives below the poverty line, and while communities faced unaffordable housing costs, unemployment, and inadequate public transportation, counties used public funds to expand jails. From …
North Carolina Court Appearance Project
In North Carolina, nonappearance for a court case can lead to driver’s license suspension, an order for arrest, and jail time. Nearly 250,000 court appearances are missed annually in North …
Taking on Traffic Laws: A How-To Guide for Decriminalizing Mobility
Policy, planning, and funding decisions have left primarily Black and low-income communities without safe infrastructure for biking and walking and created conditions forcing people to make choices that cities have …
Debt-Based License Suspensions: Drivers of Poverty and Incarceration
Jurisdictions nationwide suspend driver’s licenses for nonpayment of fines and fees unrelated to traffic safety. The suspensions pose significant challenges for the approximately 11 million Americans affected, particularly those in …
Estimating the Earnings Loss Associated With a Criminal Record and Suspended Driver’s License
Contact with the criminal legal system and sanctions such as driver’s license suspensions can result in limited employment opportunities and have lifelong impacts on a person’s potential earnings. To advance …
Race Representation and Revenue: Reliance on Fines and Forfeitures in City Governments
The Department of Justice’s Ferguson report suggests cities with a higher population of Black people and an overrepresentation of White people in their law enforcement agencies levy fines at higher …
The Hidden Costs of Pretrial Detention Revisited
Using data from over 1 million people booked into a jail in Kentucky between 2009 and 2018, this study investigates the relationship between pretrial detention and failure to appear, rearrest, …
Civil Assessments: The Hidden Court Fee That Penalizes Poverty
California allows courts to charge a civil assessment fee of up to $300 to people who miss a deadline to pay or appear in court. An estimated 300,000 people receive …