Ability to Pay Archives - Page 14 of 40 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Reckless Lawmaking: How Debt-Based Driver’s License Suspension Laws Impose Harm and Waste Resources

This report examines the impacts of suspending driver’s licenses as a consequence of unpaid fines and fees and failure to appear in court. 16 individuals who had their license suspended …

Speeding into the Future: The Pitfalls of Automated Traffic Enforcement

With speeding as the leading cause of fatal car crashes in the United States, speed cameras are used in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Along with encouraging safer …

NM SB181

This bill requires courts in criminal proceedings to assess ability to pay a fine, fee or costs, at the time of sentencing. The bill also requires that individuals be permitted …

Injustice in the Lowest Courts: How Municipal Courts Rob America’s Youth

In collaboration with the Juvenile Law Center, Columbia Law School’s Community Advocacy Lab examined the constitutions and laws of each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia to …

Driving DC to Opportunity: Wealth Should Not Determine Who Gets to Keep Their Driver’s License

DC’s Clean Hands Law restricts driver’s license privileges for court debt above $100. This report shows how this law punishes poverty, exacerbates inequalities, negatively impacts employment opportunities, and contributes to …

Carter v. Montgomery

Hundreds of individuals were assessed fines by the Montgomery Municipal Court for misdemeanors, primarily traffic tickets like driving with a suspended license and other low-level crimes of poverty. When they …

Living with Conviction: Sentenced To Debt For Life In Washington State

Through storytelling and legal empowerment, Living with Conviction: Sentenced to Debt for Life in Washington State partners with formerly incarcerated individuals to advocate for the end of onerous legal financial …

Costs and Fees Charged To Indigent Criminal Defendants in Philadelphia County

This publication seeks to determine the amount of criminal court costs and fees PLSE’s clients owe to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas

Layaway Freedom: Coercive Financialization in the Criminal Legal System

Using data from courtroom observations and interviews with court actors and people paying their court debt in Illinois, the authors study financialization in the criminal legal system, including the practice …

Traffic: Online Traffic Adjudication and Ability-to-Pay

The Pilot Program for Online Adjudication of Infraction Violations allows qualified California litigants to request reductions in traffic infraction fines and fees in 8 pilot courts, remotely. This report provides …