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 …
Longitudinal Associations among Child Support Debt, Employment, and Recidivism after Prison
Using longitudinal data from a prisoner reentry program, the authors look to examine the impact of child support debt on employment and recidivism. Findings indicate that more debt was not …
Court Fines And Fees: Criminalizing Poverty In North Carolina
In the last 20 years, criminal and court fees have increased by 400 percent in North Carolina, and a large sum is disbursed to the state General Fund, which the …
Unequal Justice Bail and Modern Day Debtors’ Prison in Nebraska
The imposition of bail and monetary sanctions on indigent Nebraskans has led to individuals held pretrial making up half of the state’s local jail populations, and others sitting out their …
Punishing Poverty: The high cost of probation fees in Massachusetts
Massachusetts’ probation fees disproportionately impact low-income communities and make it harder for people to succeed. People who can least afford additional fees are more likely to be on probation and …
Reinventing Community Corrections
This article discusses the history of criminal justice supervision and why parole and probation is an afterthought to some stakeholders when they consider rehabilitation programs for people convicted of crimes.
Out of Ferguson: Misdemeanors, Municipal Courts, Tax Distribution and Constitutional Limitations
In this five-part research paper, Professors from Saint Louis University’s School of Law examine the “economic impact of discriminatory municipal law enforcement” in St. Louis County, Missouri.