Personal Narrative: Celeste
Celeste Sawyer is a single mother of five children living in Florida. Her driver’s license was suspended, because she accumulated $584 of traffic ticket debt.
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Personal Narrative: Marlo
Knapp's license has been suspended since March of 2010 due to unpaid fines and fees that she owes in Escambia County totaling near $7,000 stemming from a mix of both traffic and criminal cases.
Personal Narrative: Sean
Sean Lewis spent his 36th birthday at the Escambia County Clerk’s Office trying to resolve his overdue court fines and fees so that he could get his driver’s license back.
Driven By Debt: How Driver’s License Suspensions for Unpaid Fines and Fees Hurt Texas Families
This report discusses the various ways debt-based driver’s license suspensions harm Texas drivers, especially those that are low-income and minorities.
Nine Facts about Monetary Sanctions in the Criminal Justice System
High expenditures in the criminal justice system have led some jurisdictions to rely on courts and law enforcement to generate new revenue. This report identifies nine facts about monetary sanctions …
Texas House Bill 2754: Arrests for failure to pay or failure to appear.
This bill, which did not pass, would have limited the use of arrest for fine-only offenses in Texas.
Personal Narrative: Melanie
Melanie is a white, 45-year-old resident of South Carolina. As a mother, she tries her best to care for her children but she has not been able to provide basic healthcare for them for years due to her license suspension.
Timbs v. Indiana
Petitioner used life insurance proceeds to purchase a Land Rover for $41,558.30. He used the vehicle to transport heroin worth a total of $385. He was arrested and his vehicle was seized. Petitioner argued that the forfeiture was excessive in violation of the Eight Amendment’s excessive fines clause.
Statutory Inequality: The Logics of Monetary Sanctions in State Law
This article analyzes Illinois laws to investigate the fines and fees people are expected to pay and what happens when they cannot afford to pay these costs.
McNeil v. Community Probation Services
Community Probation Services, LLC and PSI Probation, LLC, for-profit probation companies, provide probation services for Giles County, Tennessee. The companies add their own fees and surcharges to the court debts of probationers.