Racial Disparities in Use of Force at Traffic Stops
Millions of traffic stops occur nationwide for reasons unrelated to safety. Officers not only use traffic stops as a pretext to conduct a search or investigate for other crimes but …
We Scrape Together Pennies: Fairness and Effectiveness of Monetary Sanctions
Monetary sanctions are ingrained in every element of the criminal legal system, including as a condition of community supervision. This study examines the administration, collection, and enforcement of fines and …
Estimating Earnings Impact of Driver’s License Revocations in North Carolina
In North Carolina, a driver’s license can be revoked for failure to pay court ordered monetary obligations and failure to appear in court. Millions of people rely on their licenses …
Playing Politics With Traffic Fines: Sheriff Elections and Political Cycles in Traffic Fines Revenue
The political budget cycle theory is the idea that elected officials change how they manage public money in the period immediately before elections to improve their chances of getting reelected. …
Predation and the Disproportionate Risk of Driver’s License Suspensions in Economically and Racially Marginalized Communities
Driver’s license suspensions for non-safety reasons such as failure to appear or failure to pay exploit vulnerable groups in order to fill state and local budgets. Analyzing Department of Motor …
The Cost of Justice: In Indiana, Legal Fines and Fees Are Determined by Where You Live
Monetary sanctions can prevent intergenerational wealth through the seizure of property, assets, and accounts, and the collateral consequences they perpetuate are often overlooked. People involved in the criminal legal system …
Locked In, Priced Out: How Prison Commissary Price-Gouging Preys on The Incarcerated
Prison commissaries nationwide are exploitative and inconsistent in their pricing. The Appeal underwent a nine-month investigation to collect commissary prices and markups from 46 states. People in prison make pennies …
Fines, Fees, and Families: Monetary Sanctions As Stigmatized Intergenerational Exchange
The impacts of monetary sanctions extend far beyond those directly receiving them, often burdening families and entire communities. But unlike the well-documented effects of incarceration, the intergenerational consequences of court-imposed …
Locked In, Priced Out
Prison commissaries nationwide are inconsistent in their pricing. The Appeal underwent a nine-month investigation to collect commissary prices and markups from 46 states and created the first national database of …
In Debt Due to Your Own Arrest? The Truth About Fines & Fees
NowThis, in collaboration with Galaxy Gives and Reform Alliance, created a short video detailing how Americans face criminal justice debt. Americans face millions of dollars of debt each year from …