Research Archives - Page 23 of 42 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Pocketbook Policing: How race shapes municipal reliance on punitive fines and fees in the Chicago suburbs

Using data from Chicagoland's suburbs, the authors explain why Black suburban municipalities are driven to rely on fines and fees to address budget shortfalls unlike officials of suburbs with different racial make-ups.

Misaligned incentives and the scale of incarceration in the United States

In 1996, California passed the California Juvenile Justice Realignment bill (SB 681) which made counties responsible for a higher cost to incarcerate youths in California Youth Authority (CYA) facilities. Data …

Cited for Being in Plain Sight: How California Policies Being Black, Brown, and Unhoused in Public

This report is a detailed analysis of non-traffic infraction data from California which shows that minorities are cited at higher rates than White people.

An Assessment of Access to and Quality of Juvenile Defense Counsel in Oregon

This assessment examines how and when youth access counsel, the quality of representation they receive, and the systemic impediments that prevent youth from receiving high-quality representation. Over the course of …

New York’s Ferguson Problem- How the state’s racist fee system punishes poverty, lacks transparency, and is overdue for reform

This paper shows how New York’s criminal justice fines and fees practices worsen racial disparities and punish low-income people.

Local Government Dependence on Criminal Justice Revenue and Emerging Constraints

Across the nation, local governments use the criminal justice system to balance their budgets through fines, fees, costs, assessments, and forfeitures. Many have become dependent on criminal justice revenue to …

Case Studies in Indiana Community Corrections Fines and Fees

The experiences of four people involved in court-ordered community service programs in Indiana highlight the costs people are expected to pay and the variation of costs assessed between different people.

Debt, Incarceration, and Re-Entry: A Scoping Review

Justice-involved people and their families are heavily burdened by debt: legal financial obligations (LFO) from criminal justice involvement, pre-existing debt that compounded during incarceration, and debts accrued during reentry. This …

Best Practices: Reforming Fine & Fee Policies in the Criminal Justice System

The tough-on-crime era of the 1980s and 1990 and anti-tax sentiments have led many state and local governments to shift the cost of the criminal justice systems from taxpayers to …

Fines, Fees, Forfeitures, and Disparities: A Link Between Municipal Reliance on Fines and Racial Disparities in Policing

This research paper explores the relationship between a municipality's reliance on fines and fees and police behavior during traffic stops.