Welcome to FFJC’s digital library of resources related to fines and fees, also known as the Clearinghouse. Our repository of research and tools is curated and summarized by our Policy and Research team and includes key fines and fees research, litigation, legislation, policy analysis and guidance, and case studies. Use the search features below to find the information you need to drive reform.
E.g., ‘impacts of fines and fees’
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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.
Debt Sentence: How Fines And Fees Hurt Working Families
Diversion Without Debt: Case Studies from Three County Prosecutors Leading Fee Reform
Diversion Without Debt: Case Studies from Three County Prosecutors Leading Fee Reform
Diversion programs offer an early off-ramp from the criminal legal system, providing accountability while reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety. However, the imposition o…
Locked In, Priced Out: How Prison Commissary Price-Gouging Preys on The Incarcerated
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…
Fines, Fees, and Families: Monetary Sanctions As Stigmatized Intergenerational Exchange
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 incarc…
Understanding the Landscape of Fines, Restitution, and Fees for Criminal Convictions in Minnesota
Understanding the Landscape of Fines, Restitution, and Fees for Criminal Convictions in Minnesota
In Minnesota, being charged and convicted of a crime can lead to a number of consequences, including arrest, incarceration, or probation, in addition to the often less visible fina…
Predatory Fines and Fees: Revenue, Fiscal Contrition, and Policy Change
Predatory Fines and Fees: Revenue, Fiscal Contrition, and Policy Change
Some local jurisdictions are beginning to grapple with the social costs and individual harms associated with monetary sanctions and how they can become less reliant on them. This r…
Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota, et al.
Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota, et al.
In a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court holds that local governments seeking forfeiture of property as compensation for a public debt may not profit from it beyond the amoun…
Factoring in Family: Considerations of Parenthood in the Assessment, Enforcement and Collection of Legal Financial Obligations
Factoring in Family: Considerations of Parenthood in the Assessment, Enforcement and Collection of Legal Financial Obligations
This study explores the relationship between monetary punishment and parenthood from the perspectives of court and community corrections professionals. The authors rely on data fro…
The Cost of Parking: A Preliminary Analysis of Parking Tickets Data in Austin, Minneapolis, and Portland
The Cost of Parking: A Preliminary Analysis of Parking Tickets Data in Austin, Minneapolis, and Portland
Parking tickets can serve as an entry point to the criminal legal system when left unpaid, causing lifelong financial burdens. Additional consequences include suspended driver’s li…
Justice by Geography: The Role of Monetary Sanctions Across Communities
Justice by Geography: The Role of Monetary Sanctions Across Communities
Although state statutes often dictate the amount of fines and fees imposed, local courts have significant discretion in how they carry out the laws and there is variation between c…
What is Wrong with Monetary Sanctions? Directions for Policy, Practice, and Research
What is Wrong with Monetary Sanctions? Directions for Policy, Practice, and Research
Each year tens of millions of people are assessed fines, fees, and other costs stemming from their contacts with the criminal legal system, ranging from felony convictions to traff…