The New Due Process: Fairness in a Fee-Driven State
Courts, prosecutors, and law enforcement work together to assess and collect fines, fees, and forfeitures that fund the justice system – a conflict of interest and a violation of due …
Policing-for-profit
The Impact of Fines, Fees, and Forfeitures on Policing
Law enforcement agencies across the nation, like many local and state governments, rely on fines, fees, and forfeitures for funding. The heavy fines, parking citations and unnecessary incarceration that result …
Police In This Tiny Alabama Town Suck Drivers Into Legal ‘Black Hole’
Brookside, a small town in Alabama with 1,253 residents and six miles of roads to patrol, has more than doubled its town’s income as fines and forfeitures rose 640 percent …
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 …
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 …
The Demand for Money Behind Many Traffic Stops
Cities and towns, often those with weakened tax bases or that are barred from easily raising revenue, use fines and fees to raise revenue. Over 730 municipalities rely on fines …
2021 Driving Injustice: Consequences and Disparities in North Carolina Legal and Traffic Debt
An increase in fines, fees, and license suspension for traffic tickets, infractions, and misdemeanors has created a vicious cycle of court debt. People who do not pay their debt within …
The predatory dimensions of criminal justice
Throughout American history, criminal justice has played a critical role in resource extraction from slave patrols to convict leasing, chain gangs and exploitative debt, credit and labor arrangements. Today, as …
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 …