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…
Honest History: How Fines and Fees Came to Harm Black Communities in Virginia
Honest History: How Fines and Fees Came to Harm Black Communities in Virginia
This article takes a look at the history of Virginia’s criminal legal system and the racist laws and policies that resulted in unfair treatment and harmful outcomes for Black Virgi…
Can’t Afford an Attorney? Virginia Law Tells Poor People To Pay Anyway
Can’t Afford an Attorney? Virginia Law Tells Poor People To Pay Anyway
The U.S. Constitution requires that the government ensures people can have an attorney if accused of criminal charges that can draw jail time. In Virginia, a defendant with a very…
Reduction or Elimination of Costs and Fees Charged to Inmates in State Correctional Facilities
Reduction or Elimination of Costs and Fees Charged to Inmates in State Correctional Facilities
At the directive of bills from the Virginia Senate and House, the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) organized a work group to make recommendations regarding the reduction…
Extended Injustice: Court Fines and Fees for Young People are Counterproductive, Particularly Harm Black Young People, Families, and Communities
Extended Injustice: Court Fines and Fees for Young People are Counterproductive, Particularly Harm Black Young People, Families, and Communities
Black youths in Virginia are often swept into the youth criminal legal system by schools that fail to provide them with school-based support. Once in the system, Black youths and t…
Why We Need to Stop Suspending and Revoking Driver’s Licenses Due to Debt
Why We Need to Stop Suspending and Revoking Driver’s Licenses Due to Debt
The Prosperity Now Scorecard rates states on their progress toward racial economic justice in several policy areas. The 2022 policy update includes an assessment of which states ha…
The Demand for Money Behind Many Traffic Stops
The Demand for Money Behind Many Traffic Stops
Cities and towns, often those with weakened tax bases or that are barred from easily raising revenue, use fines and fees to raise revenue. Over 730 municipalities rely on fines and…
The High Price of Using Justice Fines and Fees to Fund Government in Virginia
The High Price of Using Justice Fines and Fees to Fund Government in Virginia
Although Virginia has made progress in limiting collateral consequences from fines and fees, the financial burden of criminal legal fines and fees continues to be a barrier to achi…
Set Up to Fail: How Court Fines & Fees Punish Poverty and Harm Black Communities in Virginia
Set Up to Fail: How Court Fines & Fees Punish Poverty and Harm Black Communities in Virginia
Virginia’s courts impose millions of dollars of debt from fines and fees that excessively burden Black Virginians. Through an analysis of five years of data from the State Compensa…
Virginia SB1: Driver’s license; suspension for nonpayment of fines or costs.
Virginia SB1: Driver’s license; suspension for nonpayment of fines or costs.
This bill ends driver’s license suspensions for unpaid fines and fees in Virginia and requires the Virginia DMV to reinstate suspended licenses.