Ability to Pay Archives - Page 13 of 40 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

The Future of Felon Disenfranchisement Reform: Evidence from the Campaign to Restore Voting Rights in Florida

In 2018, Amendment 4 sought to end felon disenfranchisement in Florida. This article outlines the history of Amendment 4 and shows how unpaid fines and fees undermined the campaign’s efforts. …

Financial Health and Criminal Justice: The Impacts of Involvement

The Financial Health Network surveyed 573 individuals about their own or a household member’s experience with the justice system to better understand the impacts on their financial health. Researchers surveyed …

NV SB219

The Nevada legislature passed legislation to end the practice of suspending an individual’s driver’s license, or prohibiting an individual from applying for a driver’s license, due to a delinquent fine, …

Nevada AB 116

The Nevada Assembly approved legislation to decriminalize minor traffic violations and end the practice of issuing warrants when an individual can’t afford to pay the fines and fees imposed. You …

More Harm than Good: Building a more Just Fine and Fee System in California

Fines and fees push many low-income, Black, and Latinx California families into debt, cutting into their ability to meet basic needs. Researchers estimate that there is at least $10 billion …

The High Price of Using Justice Fines and Fees to Fund Government in Washington State

Fines and fees can cause severe and destabilizing harm for people required to pay them. Researchers from the Vera Institute of Justice collected and analyzed budget data from state, county, city and …

Blood From a Turnip: Money as Punishment in Idaho

In 2019, the Idaho Legislature’s Office of Performance Evaluations (OPE) published a report acknowledging Idaho’s reliance on fines and fees as a source of court funding. According to the report …

An Analysis of Citation Data from the City of Buffalo Speed Camera Program

In 2020, the City of Buffalo installed speed cameras in school zones around the city to reduce the number of crashes in areas where children are going to and from …

The Price of Poverty in North Carolina’s Juvenile Justice System

To better understand the role of poverty in shaping outcomes in North Carolina’s juvenile justice system, the authors conducted interviews and surveyed attorneys, social workers, scholars and youth advocates. This …

National Center for Access to Justice Fines and Fees Index

In 2016, the National Center for Access to Justice debuted it’s Justice Index and in May 2020, it was updated for the second time. The Fines and Fees Index, an …