Money and Punishment, Circa 2020
In conjunction with the 23rd Annual Liman Colloquium held in the Fall of 2020, the Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School, the Fines and Fees …
Elimination of Fees
The High Price of Using Justice Fines and Fees to Fund Government
The Vera Institute of Justice released a series of research reports detailing the fines and fees levied by government agencies in Florida and New York, the impact of fines and …
The Price of Justice: Fines, Fees and the Criminalization of Poverty in the United States
Mass incarceration and the rising cost of the justice system correlate with the high number and value of fines and fees imposed throughout the justice system. As federal funding for …
California AB 1869 Criminal fees
This bill repeals the authority of counties to charge defendants for 23 of the most harmful fees imposed in the criminal legal system including, administering probation and mandatory supervision, processing …
California SB 1290: Juveniles: costs
This bill vacates county-assessed or court-ordered costs imposed before January 1, 2018, for the parents or guardians of wards in specified circumstances, minors who were ordered to participate in drug …
New York’s Ferguson Problem- How the state’s racist fee system punishes poverty, lacks transparency, and is overdue for reform
This paper shows how New York’s criminal justice fines and fees practices worsen racial disparities and punish low-income people.
Debt, Incarceration, and Re-Entry: A Scoping Review
Justice-involved people and their families are heavily burdened by debt: legal financial obligations (LFO) from criminal justice involvement, pre-existing debt that compounded during incarceration, and debts accrued during reentry. This …
Best Practices: Reforming Fine & Fee Policies in the Criminal Justice System
The tough-on-crime era of the 1980s and 1990 and anti-tax sentiments have led many state and local governments to shift the cost of the criminal justice systems from taxpayers to …
Financial Policies for Imposed Fines, Fees, and Asset Forfeitures: The Basis for Building Trust with the Public and Fair Treatment of All Citizens
Many local governments rely on imposed fines, fees, and forfeitures to raise revenue without a financial policy. Doing so can reduce citizens’ trust in government, have a disproportionate impact on …
The High Costs of “Justice”: A Snapshot of Juvenile Court Fines and Fees in Michigan
Through information collected from counties, advocates, community members and court involved families, the National Center for Youth Law published this brief summarizing the impact of juvenile court fines and fees …