Debtors' Prisons Archives - Page 7 of 15 - Fines and Fees Justice Center

No Exit: How Maryland’s Debt Collection Practices Deepen Poverty & Widen The Racial Wealth Gap

Consumer debt is projected to be at an all-time high of $4 trillion by the end of 2018. Driving this debt is student loan debt, mortgages, medical and civic debt …

Personal Narrative: Hilda Brucker

Hilda Brucker received citations for rotted wood and chipped paint, weeds in her yard and ivy on her trees, and cracks in her driveway.

Why does the US still have ‘debtors’ prisons’?

This video describes how people, especially those of fewer means, can be jailed for unpaid court fines and fees.

Personal Narrative: Karen McNeil

In November 2015, McNeil pled guilty to driving with a revoked license. She was placed on probation for 11 months and 29 days and ordered to pay $426 in fines and fees, $25 each week in court costs and fines, $45 a month in supervision fees, and $45 for each drug test.

A Debtor’s Prison: Court fees and minor fines are leading to debilitating cycles of incarceration in the US

This short documentary film tells the story of two St. Louis women who were unjustly incarcerated because of failure to pay their fines and fees.

The Excessive Fines Clause: Challenging the Modern Debtor’s Prison

This law review article makes the case that the Eight Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause may be a better, albeit underdeveloped, provision to address the epidemic of debtor’s prisons.

Mississippi HB 387: An Act to Provide that Incarceration Shall Not Automatically Follow the Nonpayment of a Fine, Restitution, or Court Costs […]

This bill was proposed to enshrine Rule 26.6(b) of the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure in state law. Its provisions are nearly identical: it mandates a determination of willfulness before a court may sanction a defendant for nonpayment of fines and fees, and provides alternatives for courts when failure to pay was not willful.

No One Is Watching: Jail in Upstate New York

This article, part of the Vera Institute’s In Our Backyard Stories series, documents the incarceration practices in the small upstate city of Amsterdam, New York.

Mecklenburg County District Court Bench Cards

The Mecklenburg County working group requested the assistance of Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Policy Program, which helped the group develop two bench cards. One bench card provides guidance for judges when imposing fines and fees; the other outlines a process for sanctioning defendants who fail to pay fines and fees.

Fines, Fees, and the Poverty Penalty

This issue brief discusses how fines and fees harm communities and puts forward several strategies that prosecutors can use to mitigate these harms.