Minnesota Archives - Fines and Fees Justice Center

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 …

Understanding the Landscape of Fines, Restitution, and Fees for Criminal Convictions in Minnesota

In Minnesota, being charged and convicted of a crime can lead to a number of consequences, including arrest, incarceration, or probation, in addition to the often less visible financial consequences. …

Predatory Fines and Fees: Revenue, Fiscal Contrition, and Policy Change

Some local jurisdictions are beginning to grapple with the social costs and individual harms associated with monetary sanctions and how they can become less reliant on them. This report clarifies …

Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota, et al.

In a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court holds that local governments seeking forfeiture of property as compensation for a public debt may not profit from it beyond the amount …

The Cost of Parking: A Preliminary Analysis of Parking Tickets Data in Austin, Minneapolis, and Portland

Parking tickets can serve as an entry point to the criminal legal system when left unpaid, causing lifelong financial burdens. Additional consequences include suspended driver’s licenses, loss of voting rights, …

Justice by Geography: The Role of Monetary Sanctions Across Communities

Although state statutes often dictate the amount of fines and fees imposed, local courts have significant discretion in how they carry out the laws and there is variation between courts …

What is Wrong with Monetary Sanctions?: Directions for Policy, Practice, and Research

Each year tens of millions of people are assessed fines, fees, and other costs stemming from their contacts with the criminal legal system, ranging from felony convictions to traffic violations. …

What Is Wrong with Monetary Sanctions? Directions for Policy, Practice, and Research

Monetary sanctions are an increasing form of punishment for criminal offenses that have generated billions of dollars in revenue while also generating massive amounts of penal debt for low-income individuals. …

Native Americans and Monetary Sanctions

Using an analysis of criminal court administrative data and in-depth interviews with decision-makers and defendants in Minnesota, the authors find that Native Americans are subject to the largest overall legal …