News - Page 76 of 95 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

News

Louisiana House Bill 249: Payment of fines, fees, costs, restitution, and other monetary obligations related to an offender’s conviction

Louisiana House Bill 249 protects people convicted of a felony and their dependents from facing undue hardship because of fines and fees.

Continue Reading

Mississippi Department of Public Safety declines to enforce statute that permits driver’s license suspension for failure to pay fines and fees

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety made a number of discretionary changes regarding driver’s license suspensions for unpaid fines and fees -- they stopped suspending licenses for nonpayment, restored licenses, and waived the $100 reinstatement fee for those drivers.

Continue Reading

Juvenile Justice Research to Policy and the Case of Fines

This study analyzes data from more than 1,000 justice-involved youth in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in order to answer two questions: (1) how do demographics and case characteristics correlate with imposition of fines and fees, and (2) how do fines and fees correlate with recidivism rates?

Continue Reading

$23,000 in traffic fines reduced to $9 for man as pilot program takes on New Orleans’ court system

In March 2017, New Orleans nonprofit Stand with Dignity sponsored a Warrant Clinic in New Orleans. Over 1,200 people (who owed an average of $8,000 in fines and fees) participated in the clinic.

Continue Reading

Exploring Supervision Fees In Four Probation Jurisdictions in Texas

This report by the University of Minnesota’s Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice presents findings from a qualitative study examining the interaction between probation outcomes and probation fees in Texas.

Continue Reading

Not One but Many: Monetary Punishment and the Fergusons of America

In this article for Sociological Forum, Professors Kasey Hendricks and Daina Cheyenne Harvey examine whether Ferguson’s fines and fees practices are typical among local governments.

Continue Reading

D.C. Law 22-175: Traffic and Parking Ticket Penalty Amendment Act of 2018.

The Council of the District of Columbia unanimously amended the District of Columbia Traffic Adjudication Act of 1978 to eliminate the suspension of drivers’ licenses for unpaid traffic debt or failure to appear at hearings.

Continue Reading

Making Families Pay: The Harmful, Unlawful, and Costly Practice of Charging Juvenile Administrative Fees in California

This report from the Berkeley Policy Advocacy Clinic details California counties’ practice of assessing and collecting fees from families with youth in the California juvenile justice system. California abolished juvenile fees in 2018.

Continue Reading

Maine LD 1190: An Act Regarding Driver’s License Suspensions for Nondriving-related Violations

This bill abolishes driver’s license suspensions for failure to pay fines and fees imposed in criminal cases, except traffic offenses.

Continue Reading

Personal Narrative: Izell Mayes

Mayes’ traffic debt started back in 1989 when he got his first traffic ticket and couldn’t afford to pay it. He missed one court date after another and also racked up more traffic citations until his total traffic ticket debt was nearly $23,000.

Continue Reading

Topic