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
Officials: Prison Inmates In Essex County Should Know About This Form
Officials: Prison Inmates In Essex County Should Know About This Form
The Essex County Board of County Commissioners recently passed a resolution to help incarcerated people learn how to resolve outstanding court fines, warrants, and detainers while…
New Jersey A5587: Eliminates fees, liens, and warrants issued for Public Defender services
New Jersey A5587: Eliminates fees, liens, and warrants issued for Public Defender services
New Jersey Mayor Phil Murphy signed a bill eliminating fees, liens, and warrants associated with public defender services in the state. The new law also applies retroactively to al…
NJ S266
NJ S266
The New Jersey legislature introduced a bill that would eliminate driver’s license suspensions for failure to answer or appear in response to a failure to appear notice, or failure…
Why Inequitable And Burdensome Court-Issued Fines And Fees Are A Health Issue—And What Health And Policy Leaders Can Do About It
Why Inequitable And Burdensome Court-Issued Fines And Fees Are A Health Issue—And What Health And Policy Leaders Can Do About It
Social determinants like court debt can negatively influence an individual’s health. Through healthcare hotspotting, the Rutgers Law School/Camden Coalition, Medical-Legal Pa…
Individual and Geographic Variation in Driver’s License Suspensions: Evidence of Disparities by Race, Ethnicity and Income
Individual and Geographic Variation in Driver’s License Suspensions: Evidence of Disparities by Race, Ethnicity and Income
A suspended license can severely limit an individual’s access to healthcare services and social and economic opportunities. However, many states use driver’s license su…
Trapped: Most States Let Courts Fine Teenagers. The Debt is Taking Down their Whole Families.
Trapped: Most States Let Courts Fine Teenagers. The Debt is Taking Down their Whole Families.
This article examines the use of hefty punishment fines and the impact of those fines, and fees, on families. The article highlights the story of a New Jersey teen locked into a cy…
New Jersey S48: Concerns juvenile incarceration and parole
New Jersey S48: Concerns juvenile incarceration and parole
This bill eliminates certain fines imposed on juveniles and eliminates New Jersey courts’ discretion to impose fines on juveniles as a penalty for delinquency.
Report of the New Jersey Supreme Court Working Group on the Municipal Courts
Report of the New Jersey Supreme Court Working Group on the Municipal Courts
Between 2017 and 2018, the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Court Operations, Fines, and Fees conducted a review of New Jersey’s municipal court practices. This repo…
Kavadas et al. v. Martinez et al.
Kavadas et al. v. Martinez et al.
In New Jersey, driver’s licenses were automatically suspended when bench warrants were issued to non-custodial parents for nonpayment of child support.
Order Authorizing Immediate Release of Defendants Arrested on Municipal Court Bench Warrants for Failure to Appear and Failure to Pay […]
Order Authorizing Immediate Release of Defendants Arrested on Municipal Court Bench Warrants for Failure to Appear and Failure to Pay […]
In the summer of 2018, the top judge in Middlesex County, NJ ordered the release of individuals who were arrested and detained for failure to appear in municipal court over low-lev…