Corrections Fees Archives - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Locked In, Priced Out: How Prison Commissary Price-Gouging Preys on The Incarcerated

Prison commissaries nationwide are exploitative and inconsistent in their pricing. The Appeal underwent a nine-month investigation to collect commissary prices and markups from 46 states. People in prison make pennies …

Locked In, Priced Out

Prison commissaries nationwide are inconsistent in their pricing. The Appeal underwent a nine-month investigation to collect commissary prices and markups from 46 states and created the first national database of …

In Debt Due to Your Own Arrest? The Truth About Fines & Fees

NowThis, in collaboration with Galaxy Gives and Reform Alliance, created a short video detailing how Americans face criminal justice debt. Americans face millions of dollars of debt each year from …

Rosa v. Doe

Rosa v. Doe No. 21-2628, Nov. 20, 2023; WL 8009400 (2d Cir. 2023) Holding When assessing whether an incarcerated person qualifies for a waiver of filing fees in a federal …

Probation in Allegheny County

Although probation is seen as an alternative to incarceration, it has become a driver of incarceration. Forty percent of people in the Allegheny County Jail are incarcerated because of probation …

Why Inflation Price Hikes Are Even Worse Behind Bars

The Marshall Project reviewed commissary prices from 26 state prison departments in 2022, finding that prices for food and hygiene products have soared across prisons due to the lack of …

SMH: The Rapid & Unregulated Growth of E‑messaging in Prisons

Text-based electronic messaging or “e-massaging,” not to be confused with emailing, has exploded in the past decade. At least 43 state prison systems and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) …

Community Supervision Part 1: Fees and Fines

Financial penalties can serve as a barrier to successful rehabilitation and reentry. In addition to fines and restitution, probationers and parolees can be assessed supervision fees, court fees, technology fees, …

Policy Blueprint For Ending Carceral Profiteering

Each year, over 4,000 private corporations generate $80 billion by exploiting incarcerated people’s need to stay in contact with their loved ones and access medical care, quality food, and hygiene …

Removing Barriers to Youth and Family Success: The Role of State Juvenile Cost of Care Fees

For youth in Idaho, courts assess fines and fees with little regard for how their lives may be affected. Cost of care fees, also known as parent reimbursement fees, can …