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The Cost of Justice: In Indiana, Legal Fines and Fees Are Determined by Where You Live

Monetary sanctions can prevent intergenerational wealth through the seizure of property, assets, and accounts, and the collateral consequences they perpetuate are often overlooked. People involved in the criminal legal system …

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 …

Redesigning Public Safety: Substance Use

Many people who use drugs are also involved in the criminal legal system and have to pay fines and fees. Fines are often used to deter and punish drug use, …

Locked In, Priced Out

Prison commissaries nationwide are inconsistent in their pricing. The Appeal underwent a nine-month investigation to collect commissary prices and markups from 46 states and created the first national database of …

In Debt Due to Your Own Arrest? The Truth About Fines & Fees

NowThis, in collaboration with Galaxy Gives and Reform Alliance, created a short video detailing how Americans face criminal justice debt. Americans face millions of dollars of debt each year from …

State v. Gibbons

Issue 1. Whether a law that imposed a $5,000 mandatory minimum fine without regard to the defendant’s ability to pay, is facially unconstitutional under the Excessive Fines Clause of both …

Priced Out: A 50-State Survey of How Diversion Fees Create Unequal Justice

The Fines and Fees Justice Center examined legislative authorization and statewide court rules in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine whether statutory provisions explicitly authorize or permit diversion program fees and, if so, whether they establish guidance or limits on what may be charged.

Consumer Debt Litigation Index

The Consumer Debt Litigation Index, developed by the National Center for Access to Justice (NCAJ), evaluates how well each U.S. state and the District of Columbia protects consumers facing debt …

Providing Labor Market Context For Debt-Related Driver’s License Suspensions In Ohio

Debt-related suspensions (DRS) are the most common reason for driver’s license suspension in Ohio. As the need for a valid driver’s license increases as a condition of employment across all …