Ability to Pay Archives - Page 4 of 31 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Fines Prevent Too Many People From Voting In Florida

In 2018, Floridians approved the constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to nearly everyone with a criminal record upon completion of their sentence. 1.4 million people became eligible to vote …

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 Partnership (MLP) serves individuals with various medical and legal issues …

Dismantling Policing for Profit: How to Build on Missouri’s Post-Ferguson Court Reforms

After the killing of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, the Department of Justice (DOJ) found Ferguson’s focus on generating revenue over public safety, along with racial …

Step One to an Antiracist State Revenue Policy: Eliminate Criminal Justice Fees and Reform Fines

Many state revenue policies are rooted in racist history and continue to worsen racial inequities and harm public safety. For example, the white supremacist group, the Redeemers, took political power …

San Francisco’s Financial Justice Project: Reducing the burden of fines and fees on San Franciscans with low incomes

San Francisco’s cost of living has drastically risen over the past decade, and 47 percent of San Franciscans are financially insecure. To address harmful fines and fees practices, San Francisco …

Driven by Debt: The Failure of the OmniBase Program

The OmniBase Failure to Appear Program places holds on license renewals (making it an offense to drive) when the license holder fails to pay fines and fees or fails to …

City of Seattle v. Long

Summary: Steven Long worked as a general tradesman and stored work tools and personal items in his truck, where he had been living since he was evicted from his apartment in …

D.C. parking, traffic tickets snowball into financial hardships

The Washington Post analyzed patterns of moving violations from red light cameras, parking tickets and police stops between 2016 and 2021 in the District of Columbia. The article highlights findings …

Cycles of Debt: Research Indicates That Driver’s License Suspensions Over Unpaid Fines Targets Black Drivers

In the first-ever study of failure-to-pay suspensions in the United States, researchers Sian Mughan and Joanna Carroll examined a sample of over 2000 drivers who received traffic tickets in Marion …

Nickels and Dimes? Rethinking the Imposition of Special Assessment Fee on Indigent Defendants

No fine is imposed if the judge determines the defendant lacks the ability to pay any fine, but every defendant is required to pay a special assessment fee of $100 …