Ability to Pay Archives - Page 8 of 39 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Why We Need to Stop Suspending and Revoking Driver’s Licenses Due to Debt

The Prosperity Now Scorecard rates states on their progress toward racial economic justice in several policy areas. The 2022 policy update includes an assessment of which states have ended the …

Justice-Involved Individuals and the Consumer Financial Marketplace

Contact with the justice system can destabilize people’s financial situation. This report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlines the challenges justice-involved individuals and their families face due to predatory …

Red-Light and Speed Cameras: Analyzing the Equity and Efficacy of Chicago’s Automated Camera Enforcement Program

This report analyzes Chicago’s automated red-light and speed camera program. Using data from red-light and speed camera tickets issued between 2016 and 2019, the authors evaluate the distribution of camera …

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

Each year tens of millions of people are assessed fines, fees, and other costs stemming from their contacts with the criminal legal system, ranging from felony convictions to traffic violations. …

Police In This Tiny Alabama Town Suck Drivers Into Legal ‘Black Hole’

Brookside, a small town in Alabama with 1,253 residents and six miles of roads to patrol, has more than doubled its town’s income as fines and forfeitures rose 640 percent …

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, …