Tools Archives - Page 5 of 12 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Report of the New Jersey Supreme Court Working Group on the Municipal Courts

Between 2017 and 2018, the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Court Operations, Fines, and Fees conducted a review of New Jersey’s municipal court practices. This report provides an overview of historical reform efforts, modern judicial reform efforts, and makes 17 recommendations related to equal access, fairness, and judicial independence.

6 Things to Know about Virginia Budget Amendment to Temporarily Halt Driver’s License Suspensions for Unpaid Court Debt

This fact sheet for Virginia drivers provides guidance on how they can go about reinstating driver’s licenses that were suspended for unpaid court debt.

Can’t Pay, Can’t Vote: A National Survey On The Modern Poll Tax

Felony convictions and court debt have become barriers to restoring voting rights for millions of people living in the U.S. This report provides a history of poll taxes and explains how felony disenfranchisement serves as a barrier perpetuating the same inequality-producing results: African-Americans and poor people lose the right to vote and struggle to regain voting rights at disproportionate rates.

Paid in Full: A Plan to End Money Injustice in New Orleans

The Vera Institute’s “Paid in Full” report outlines a path towards fines and fees reform, summarizing relevant reform litigation and detailing specific steps that the city of New Orleans can take to reduce the harms of pre-trial and conviction fees.

Justice “cost points”: Examination of privatization within public systems of justice

This study explores how local and state governments allow corporations to generate profits from public criminal justice institutions and examines how that structure harms people forced to pay for private services.

Fines and Fees and Jail Time in New York Town and Village Justice Courts: The Unseen Violation of Constitutional and State Law

In this report, the Fund for Modern Courts lays out a comprehensive analysis of fines and fees-related due process violations in New York State town and village justice courts.

Commercialized (In)justice: Consumer Abuses in the Bail and Corrections Industry

This report examines two concerning trends: the increasing use of fines and fees to fund the criminal legal system, and functions of that system being outsourced to private companies who profit from the criminal legal system.

Too Poor to Pay: How Arkansas’s Offender-Funded Justice System Drives Poverty & Mass Incarceration

This report identifies several promising issue areas for fines and fees reform in Arkansas, including nonpayment incarceration, driver’s license suspension for unpaid fines and fees, and probation fees. The authors interviewed 205 people who were charged and/or incarcerated over inability to pay fines and fees; performed court-watching in 8 counties; sent almost 300 records requests; and interviewed Arkansas criminal justice and social service stakeholders.

A large-scale analysis of racial disparities in police stops across the United States

To assess racial disparities in police interactions with the public, researchers compiled and analyzed a dataset detailing nearly 100 million municipal and state patrol traffic stops conducted in dozens of jurisdictions across the country.

State of Phone Justice: Local jails, state prisons and private phone providers

This policy brief from the Prison Policy Initiative provides an overview of prison and jail phone call fees and makes several recommendations to reform them.