McGrath v. Suffolk County
Issue Whether Suffolk County’s imposition of administrative fees on red light camera violations exceeding the state statutory cap of $50 per violation (or $75 with a late fee) is preempted …
News
Failure to Pay The Use of Debt-Based Carceral Sanctions and Warrants in Wisconsin’s Municipal Courts
Although municipal courts in Wisconsin do not enforce criminal penalties, many order the arrest and jailing of people for debt-based sanctions. Municipal courts use writs of commitment to authorize the …
Reforming the Shadow Carceral State
Pay-to-stay fees are daily costs imposed on currently or formerly incarcerated people to cover the costs of their own incarceration. Using the repeal of pay-to-stay fees in Illinois as a …
Beyond Social Determinants: Fiscal Determinants of Overdose Death in U.S Counties, 2017–2020
Rising overdose-related deaths have prompted many to explore what factors make some communities more severely affected than others. This report presents findings from a first-of-its-kind national study examining how county-level …
Improving Traffic Ticket Outcomes
Costly fines and fees from traffic citations disproportionately burden low income people with debt they cannot afford. To reduce the burden, California created MyCitations, an online ability-to-pay system. Between July …
Beyond Enforcement: Prioritizing Safety in Federal Transportation Funding
The Department of Transportation (DOT) provides grants for traffic safety measures, but its reporting requirements often prioritize enforcement metrics over strategies to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities. This white paper …
Warrant Strategy
Managing old warrants aged anywhere from 5 to 25 years contributes to significant backlogs in the legal system. This report highlights Cook County’s strategic efforts to address a backlog of …
Public Opinion Survey about Alternatives to Financial Restitution
Building on a study which found that the harms caused by the crime and the restitution process rarely align, the authors administered a survey to 4200 respondents to assess public …
The Conservative Case For Fines And Fees Reform
The current criminal and civil fine and fee system in the United States should concern conservatives. This report shows how this system violates four core conservative principles: individual freedom and …
Investigation of the Lexington Police Department and the City of Lexington, Mississippi
On September 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a report concluding that the City of Lexington, Mississippi, and the Lexington Police Department (LPD) engaged “in a pattern …