Collateral Consequences Archives - Page 23 of 25

High Pain, No Gain: How Juvenile Administrative Fees Harm Low-Income Families in Alameda County, California

At the time this report was written, by California law, counties were authorized to recoup the costs of their juvenile justice systems by charging administrative fees to juvenile defendants and their families. This policy report takes a close look at Alameda County’s system of administrative fees.

The Ohio Model for Combatting Debtors’ Prisons

This article summarizes the research, advocacy, and communications tools the ACLU of Ohio used to successfully combat debtors’ prisons and provides guidance on how to execute similar strategies in other states.

Vermont ACT 147: An act relating to driver’s license suspensions and judicial, criminal justice, and insurance topics

This Act modifies provisions related to driver’s license suspensions. Specifically, it (1) terminates suspensions imposed because of a person’s failure to appear on a criminal traffic offense charged before July 1, 1990.

Fines, Fees, And Bail- Payments In The Criminal Justice System That Disproportionately Impact The Poor

This brief provides background information on criminal justice system fines, fees, and bail and argues that these costs disproportionately impact poor people.

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.

Alabama judge forced defendants with court debt to give blood or go to jail

On September 17, 2015, Alabama Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins opened his court session by giving two options to people who did not have the money to pay their court fines and fees: give blood, or go to jail.

Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families

This report is the result of a collaborative research project from 20 community-based organizations that studied the costs of incarceration on families across 14 states.

Taxing the Poor: Incarceration, Poverty Governance, and the Seizure of Family Resources

To finance its carceral system, the United States government levies taxes on the country’s most impoverished strata. Although those involved in the justice system are typically low-income individuals, they are …

Charging Inmates Perpetuates Mass Incarceration

In this policy brief, L.B. Eisen explains how imposing fees upon incarcerated people perpetuates mass incarceration. The brief outlines describes contemporary fee practices, explores the history of those fees, analyzes their constitutionality, and makes several policy recommendations to mitigate collateral consequences.

Municipal Violations: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

In this video, John Oliver details the devastating impacts that low-income Americans suffer due to fines and fees and the involvement of private probation companies.