Research Archives - Page 33 of 40 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Making Families Pay: The Harmful, Unlawful, and Costly Practice of Charging Juvenile Administrative Fees in California

This report from the Berkeley Policy Advocacy Clinic details California counties’ practice of assessing and collecting fees from families with youth in the California juvenile justice system. California abolished juvenile fees in 2018.

Ending the Debt Trap: Strategies to Stop the Abuse of Court-Imposed Fines and Fees

Alexandra Bastien of PolicyLink describes how the imposition of criminal justice fines and fees disproportionately impacts people of color and low-income Americans.

Rebellious Social Movement Lawyering Against Traffic Court Debt

Rebellious lawyering empowers those affected by the issue to come up with solutions to their own problems. It should be a collective effort between the lawyers and legal services clients and community members from grassroots organizing groups.

Oklahoma Justice Reform Task Force Final Report

In this report, the Oklahoma Justice Reform Task Force investigated Oklahoma’s exploding incarceration rates and the judicial policies that contribute to prison overcrowding. The Task Force used their analysis to develop 27 policy recommendations aimed at improving public safety by reducing recidivism and reforming sentencing policies.

Pay or Stay: The High Cost of Jailing Texans for Fines and Fees

This joint report by Texas Appleseed and the Texas Fair Defense Project evaluates how often fine-only offenses - offenses punishable only by a fine and no jail sentence – in fact subject Texans to jail time and suspensions of driver’s licenses or the inability to renew a license or register a vehicle because of their inability to pay.

The Cost Trap: How Excessive Fees Lock Oklahomans Into the Criminal Justice System Without Boosting State Revenue

Oklahoma’s court system imposes fees for every type of case, and over the last two decades, those fees have grown enormously in both size and amount. Fees assessed on Oklahomans …

Discretionary Disenfranchisement: The Case of Legal Financial Obligations

This paper discusses how fines and fees prevent ex-felons in Alabama and Tennessee from restoring their right to vote after disenfranchisement.

Graduating Economic Sanctions According to Ability to Pay

This article focuses on a potential reform with increasing bipartisan support: the graduation of economic sanctions according to a person’s financial circumstances, also known as "day fines" or "means-adjusted fines."

Past Due: Examining the Costs and Consequences of Charging for Justice in New Orleans

This report documents the amount New Orleans residents pay in bail, fines and fees, traces where the money goes, and calculates how much the city spends to jail people who cannot pay.

Tennessee’s Court Fees and Taxes: Funding the Courts Fairly

In response to concern from House Civil Justice Committee members about the practice of fee increases, Senator Jon Lundberg requested a study on court fees. The resulting report reviews all …