Deterrence Archives - Fines and Fees Justice Center

The Constitutionality of Income-Based Fines

The current financial consequences for low-income offenders often lead to cycles of debt and jail, while high-income individuals can break the law without meaningful financial consequences. Although imposing fines regardless …

Five Evidence-Based Policies Can Improve Community Supervision

At the end of 2020, there were more than twice as many people under probation and parole supervision than people incarcerated in jails and prisons in the United States. Community …

Fines and Fees Are a Barrier to Criminal Record-Clearing

Nationally, court debt is estimated to be over $27 million; unpaid monetary sanctions creates barriers for system-involved individuals who try to clear their criminal records through expungement, including the cost …

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 …

RI opens path for former inmates to break impoverishing cycle of court fees and fines

Many Rhode Islanders are saddled with debt after incarceration, making reentering into their communities difficult. After the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, Rhode Island’s Supreme Court Committee on Racial …

The (Non) Economics of Criminal Fines and Fees

Misdemeanors constitute 80 percent of all criminal cases in the United States. Beginning January 1st, 2014, Wisconsin imposed a $200 surcharge on misdemeanor defendants found guilty in the Milwaukee Circuit …

Dismantling Policing for Profit: How to Build on Missouri’s Post-Ferguson Court Reforms

After the killing of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, the Department of Justice (DOJ) found Ferguson’s focus on generating revenue over public safety, along with racial …

Speeding in Texas? New analysis reveals where police pulled over the most people

Small towns in Texas are using aggressive ticketing strategies on speeding drivers to raise revenue for their budgets. The Houston Chronicle analyzed traffic stop and ticketing numbers reported to the …

Cycles of Debt: Research Indicates That Driver’s License Suspensions Over Unpaid Fines Targets Black Drivers

In the first-ever study of failure-to-pay suspensions in the United States, researchers Sian Mughan and Joanna Carroll examined a sample of over 2000 drivers who received traffic tickets in Marion …