Ability to Pay Archives - Page 6 of 37 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

It’s Time To Reform Washington’s Harmful System Of Fines And Fees

People with low incomes, disabilities, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) shoulder much of the harm from the legal financial obligations (LFOs) levied in Washington’s criminal legal system. …

New Mexico House Bill 81

The New Mexico legislature introduced a bill requiring the court to assess a person’s ability to pay any fine, fee or cost at the time of sentencing, and creating a …

Debtors Prisons: In Mississippi, Judges Can Lock You Up For Owing Money

In Mississippi, judges lock up people while they work to earn money to pay off court fees, fines, and restitution, without an end date. People spend an average of four …

Monetary Sanctions and Symbiotic Harms

When justice-involved individuals cannot afford their legal debts, their families who provide financial support suffer the unintended negative effects of punishment– also known as symbiotic harms. This study analyzes data …

Understanding the Burden of Legal Financial Obligations on Indigent Washingtonians

Low-income defendants are burdened with fine and fee assessments that they cannot afford to pay. This paper examines administrative court data for criminal cases in limited jurisdiction courts in Washington, …

Segmented Pricing For Fines and Fees

Local governments use fines and fees to discourage negative behavior and raise revenue. However, not everyone can afford to pay, leading to uncollected debt and harm to vulnerable communities. In …

What Is Wrong with Monetary Sanctions? Directions for Policy, Practice, and Research

Monetary sanctions are an increasing form of punishment for criminal offenses that have generated billions of dollars in revenue while also generating massive amounts of penal debt for low-income individuals. …

County Dependence on Monetary Sanctions: Implications for Women’s Incarceration

As the overall incarceration rate has fallen in the United States, the incarceration rate for women has steadily risen in some areas. With the shift to legal financial obligations as …

Incomparable Punishments: How Economic Inequality Contributes to the Disparate Impact of Legal Fines and Fees

In Texas, fines are the standard sentence for Class C misdemeanors encompassing most traffic, public order, city code, and other low-level infractions for which jail time is not statutorily permissible …

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Public Assistance, Monetary Sanctions, and Financial Double-Dealing in America

Public assistance helps over 20 percent of the U.S. population mitigate the effects of poverty. In 2017, state and local governments spent $673 billion on public assistance programs. Many people …