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.
Corrections Fees
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.
Set Up for Failure? Examining the Influence of Monetary Sanctions on Probation Success
In this article, Professors Amaia Iratzoqui and Christi Metcalfe assess whether fines and fees affect an individual’s success in their probation program.
Why Crime Doesn’t Pay: Examining Felony Collections
This research paper “examines the contributing factors which make collection of felony fines and [fees in Florida] significantly lower than collections for all other case types” and analyzes why felony collection enforcement is especially difficult.
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.
Screening Out Family Time- The For-Profit Video Visitation Industry In Prisons And Jails
This report discusses the disadvantages of the video visitation technology provided in jails and prisons, including the costs to families and how video visits are not an adequate substitute for in-person visits.
Unified But Not Uniform: Judicial Funding Issues in Alabama
This study explains how the current lack of uniformity in funding of Alabama’s courts, even after the 1973 establishment of the Unified Judicial System (UJS), warrants a second wave of reform.
US: For-Profit Probation Tramples Rights of Poor
This video by Human Rights Watch shows how private probation companies can strip people of basic necessities and jail them because they can’t afford to pay their court debt and exorbitant probation fees.
The Burden of Criminal Justice Debt in Alabama
Foster Cook’s report includes quantitative and qualitative survey results from 943 participants from 13 counties in Alabama. The report includes information about the collateral consequences of increased court costs on incarcerated people in Alabama, including harsh penalties for nonpayment and the phenomenon of defendants turning to crime as a funding source to pay their fines and fees.
Nickel and Diming the Criminal Defendant: A Look at Financial Penalties in Felony Cases
This article details the costs, fees, and financial assessments that may be imposed as part of a felony sentence in Michigan and the authorizing statutes.