Missouri Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

“Set up to Fail”: The Impact of Offender-Funded Private Probation on the Poor

The author conducted qualitative research to assess the effect of private probation on people under parole supervision for misdemeanor offenses in Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. In some of these states, private parole officers have the authority to control critical aspects of a person’s parole terms.

United States Systems of Justice, Poverty and the Consequences of Non-Payment of Monetary Sanctions: Interviews from California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, New York, and Washington

This report is a culmination of a year of research that involved interviews conducted with 380 people who made contact with systems of justice in eight states and were assessed fines and fees.

Monetary Sanctions in the Criminal Justice System

This review of law and policy is the first-year report of a five-year study comprising quantitative and qualitative research that provides a detailed understanding of how fines and fees are imposed and enforced across the United States.

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.

Fleming v. Missouri Board of Probation and Parole

Fleming filed writ of habeus corpus alleging he was unlawfully confined because his probation was revoked solely because of his indigency.

Debtors’ Prisons: Life Inside America’s For-Profit Justice System

This video provides an overview of the history of debtors’ prisons in the U.S. and features compelling commentary from citizens describing how our current system of court fines and fees put them in difficult situations and made them resort to desperate measures for survival.

Baker et al. v. City of Florissant

In violation of due process rights, the City of Florissant jails people unable to pay court fines and fees without any inquiry into their ability to pay.

City of Slater v. State (Missouri)

This case challenged the constitutionality of a $3 surcharge imposed on litigants in municipal court for the sheriff’s retirement fund. The trial court dismissed for lack of standing. The appellants claimed to have standing as taxpayers, administrators, and as one who paid the surcharge.

United States v. City of Ferguson

The complaint alleged, among other things, that the City’s conduct related to the imposition and enforcement of fines and fees for traffic and other municipal code violations was unconstitutional.

Sharecropper Finance: Using the Justice System as a Public Revenue Source

This article compares the fines and fees practices of Ferguson, Missouri and other municipal governments with the older economic technique of sharecropping.