Ability to Pay Archives - Page 35 of 39 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Missouri SB 572: Modifies various provisions regarding municipalities located in St. Louis County, nuisance abatement ordinances, disincorporation procedures for various cities, and municipal courts

This Act reduces the amount of fees charged to individuals who receive a minor traffic or municipal ordinance violation and changes the procedure for charging fines and fees to people who receive minor traffic or municipal ordinance violations.

Whitner v. City of Pagedale

In Pagedale, MO, the local government was using arrest warrants to collect civil debt from municipal code violations. A suit against the city resulted in a consent decree that reformed the city's ticketing, housing code, and court systems.

Michigan v. Ghazi Salameh Marji

On appeal, the Court found, per curiam, a trial court may not revoke a defendant’s probation and send him to prison unless there is a finding that he or she has the ability to pay restitution and is in willful default.

When All Else Fails, Fining the Family: First Person Accounts of Criminal Justice Debt

Over the course of 2 months and 39 interviews, the authors of this report aimed to better understand how the punishment of prison and its collateral consequences (and fines and fees in particular) affect individuals’ financial situations and stability.

Gonzales v. City of Austin

Plaintiffs alleged that the City of Austin jails people who are unable to pay court fines and fees. There is no inquiry into their ability to pay, no appointment of counsel, and community service is not offered as an alternative.

Rodriguez v. Providence Community Corrections

Providence Community Corrections (PCC), a private for profit organization, was the manager of the misdemeanor probation system for Rutherford County, Tennessee. Those who could afford to pay the fees were placed on unsupervised probation, those who could not were supervised by PCC. PCC was funded solely by the people it supervised. Probationers were threatened with arrest and revocation of probation which would result in additional fees and court costs.

Kennedy v. City of Biloxi et al

This case alleged that the City of Biloxi operated a debtor’s prison, routinely jailing indigent people who could not afford to pay fines and fees imposed in traffic and misdemeanor cases.

Fuentes v. Benton County

This case challenged Benton County, Washington’s practice of incarcerating indigent defendants for failure to pay court fines and fees without any inquiry into their financial status or ability to pay.

Foster et al. v. City of Alexander City et al.

In Alexander City, municipal court defendants must pay their court fines and fees from traffic debt in full by the end of the court day, usually 3:00 p.m. Persons unable to pay are forced to sit out their time in city jail, at the rate of $20 per day until someone pays their debt.

Cain et al. v. City of New Orleans et al.

Summary of the cause of action The New Orleans Parish Criminal District Court jails indigent defendants who are unable to pay post-judgement court fines and fees. Court costs are imposed …