Following the Money on Fines and Fees
The perceived legitimacy of the justice system and public safety may be undermined by the fiscal incentives resulting from states linking revenue from fines and fees to police and court …
Courts as Revenue Centers
Segmented Pricing For Fines and Fees
Local governments use fines and fees to discourage negative behavior and raise revenue. However, not everyone can afford to pay, leading to uncollected debt and harm to vulnerable communities. In …
More than half of Louisiana’s Public Defender Offices in The Red After COVID Shuttered Courts
Public defense in Louisiana is reliant on unpredictable conviction and user fees for the bulk of its funding. For the fourth year in a row, public defense offices have run …
County Dependence on Monetary Sanctions: Implications for Women’s Incarceration
As the overall incarceration rate has fallen in the United States, the incarceration rate for women has steadily risen in some areas. With the shift to legal financial obligations as …
Native Americans and Monetary Sanctions
Using an analysis of criminal court administrative data and in-depth interviews with decision-makers and defendants in Minnesota, the authors find that Native Americans are subject to the largest overall legal …
Unjust Revenue from an Imbalanced Criminal Legal System: How Georgia’s Fines and Fees Worsen Racial Inequality
Georgia’s localities are over-reliant on fines and fees revenue, making up more than 10 percent of their general revenue, while the national average among localities was two percent in 2018. …
Beyond Payment Plans: Breaking the Cycle of Court Debt in Tennessee
Tennessee, like many states, relies on fines and fees to fund its criminal justice system. To alleviate the adverse effects of court debt for low income residents, in 2019, the …
Debt to Society: The Role of Fines & Fees Reform in Dismantling the Carceral State
The massive increase in the use of fines and fees in Tennessee over the last 40 years can be explained by the increase in the number of individuals in the …
Debtors’ Blocks: How Monetary Sanctions Make Between-neighborhood Racial and Economic Inequalities Worse
Poverty, inequality and the numerous disadvantages that come with legal financial obligations (LFOs) are all present in resource-deprived neighborhoods. These disadvantages are exacerbated by the isolation of poor and predominately …
Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada
Nevada courts issue bench warrants for failure to pay fines or fees. Bench warrants allow police to take a person into custody and bring them before a judge. This report …