Access to Justice Spotlight: Fines & Fees
In April 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Office of Justice Programs, and Office for Access to Justice issued a revised Dear Colleague Letter, which detailed seven …
Ten Principles of A Public Defense Delivery System
In 2002, the American Bar Association (ABA) adopted ten principles for policymakers, public defense administrators, and other stakeholders to assess their jurisdictions’ compliance with best practices for providing effective indigent …
The Impact of Criminal Financial Sanctions: A Multi-State Analysis of Survey and Administrative Data
This multi-state study assesses outcomes related to recidivism, employment, expenditures, mental well-being, and household spillovers. Researchers specifically analyzed how increasing the dollar amount of financial obligations imposed upon conviction across …
Poverty Penalties as Human Rights Problems
Financial sanctions have led to widespread poverty penalties on low-income and vulnerable populations and are a domestic and international human rights concern. States disproportionately punish poor defendants when fines for …
“It’s Like a Reverse Robin Hood—We All Know They Can’t Pay”: How Court Actors Navigate The Logics of Monetary Sanctions
Court actors—judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation officers, and court clerks— manage conflicting priorities and contradictory logics when it comes to how legal financial obligations (LFOs) are assessed in the U.S. …
Debt Sentence: How Fines And Fees Hurt Working Families
This report shares the results of a national survey of over 5,600 adults to see how court-imposed fines and fees affect people across the country.
People Over Profits: A Truly Free, No Cost Tablet Program for Incarcerated People in San Francisco
Tablets are often utilized in jails and prisons to generate revenue from incarcerated individuals and their families, with high costs for the tablets and access to services making them unaffordable …
National Guide to Court Appearances
Missed court appearances are costly for both court systems and court users. Court users and their families may be assessed fines, arrested or serve jail time, while the system pays …
Why Inflation Price Hikes Are Even Worse Behind Bars
The Marshall Project reviewed commissary prices from 26 state prison departments in 2022, finding that prices for food and hygiene products have soared across prisons due to the lack of …
Revenue, Race, and the Potential Unintended Consequences of Traffic Enforcement Reform
Highly publicized killings of people by law enforcement during traffic stops have led to a growing interest in traffic enforcement reform. While some see automated traffic enforcement and unarmed civilian …