Research Archives - Page 17 of 42 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

A Limited Review of Warrants and Uncollected Fines and Fees

In Utah, warrants are typically not collected, but serve as a mechanism to ensure the appearance of defendants in court. Warrants reflect the outstanding fine, fee, and citation amount for …

Equitable Approaches to Municipal Fines and Fees

The assessment and collection of fines and fees can have wide-ranging harmful consequences, particularly for Black and Latino people who are more likely to be targeted by the criminal justice …

Show Me The Money: Tracking The Companies That Have a Lock on Sending Funds to Incarcerated People

To pay for the everyday costs of being incarcerated, family members historically sent money orders to prisons, the amounts which would be added to the recipient’s trust account one to …

Eliminating fees in the Alameda County juvenile justice system meaningfully reduced financial burdens on families

Parents and families are typically responsible for the financial responsibilities imposed on minors by the juvenile justice system. In 2018, California became the first state to repeal administrative fees in …

Blood From a Stone: How New York Prisons Force People To Pay For Their Own Incarceration

The prison system amplifies the lack of commissary access to basic needs and telecommunications for the most disadvantaged people in prison and drains financial resources from them and their families. …

2021 Driving Injustice: Consequences and Disparities in North Carolina Legal and Traffic Debt

An increase in fines, fees, and license suspension for traffic tickets, infractions, and misdemeanors has created a vicious cycle of court debt. People who do not pay their debt within …

Part 1: Rethinking Local Government Revenue Systems

Most local governments depend on property taxes and sales taxes to raise revenue. Although property taxes are a stable source of revenue for local governments, property taxes have decreased. Municipalities …

Reimagining local public finance: Equitable Reform of taxes, fines and fees

While the American Recovery Plan Act provides local governors flexible funds to replace revenue lost due to the pandemic, local governments should take this opportunity not just to replace revenues, …

The predatory dimensions of criminal justice

Throughout American history, criminal justice has played a critical role in resource extraction from slave patrols to convict leasing, chain gangs and exploitative debt, credit and labor arrangements. Today, as …

Cato’s Project on Poverty and Inequality in California: Final Report

California has the largest economy of any state and a gross domestic product of almost $3 trillion. However, before the pandemic, 17.2 percent of the state population lived below the …