Collection Fees and Interest Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Confronting Criminal Justice Debt: A Guide for Litigation

This guide aims to inform litigators about various strategies to defend and gain relief for individual clients burdened by criminal justice debt. It also serves to foster communication and understanding among stakeholders who work in this particular area of the justice system.

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Debtors’ Prisons: Life Inside America’s For-Profit Justice System

This video provides an overview of the history of debtors’ prisons in the U.S. and features compelling commentary from citizens describing how our current system of court fines and fees put them in difficult situations and made them resort to desperate measures for survival.

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A Fine Scheme: How Municipal Fines Become Crushing Debt in the Shadow of the New Debtors’ Prison

As budgets tighten, municipalities have turned to fines and fees to fill empty coffers. The result is that the rich may walk away, while the poor must pay or stay.

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Orange clerk slashing surcharge imposed by collection companies

This 2015 Orlando Sentinel article describes how waiving surcharges assessed by collection agencies for one weekend led the Orange County Clerk of Courts to lower the rate these companies could charge going forward.

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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.

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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.

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Criminal Justice Debt: A Barrier to Reentry

This seminal report examines fines and fees practices in the fifteen U.S. states with the highest prison populations, focusing on “user fees” and their impact on individuals reentering society after incarceration.

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The Hidden Costs of Florida’s Criminal Justice Fees

This report examines the impact of the Florida Legislature’s decision to levy “user fees” on people accused and convicted of traffic violations, misdemeanors and felonies without providing exemptions for the indigent.

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