Driven by Debt: The Failure of the OmniBase Program
The OmniBase Failure to Appear Program places holds on license renewals (making it an offense to drive) when the license holder fails to pay fines and fees or fails to …
Policing-for-profit
D.C. parking, traffic tickets snowball into financial hardships
The Washington Post analyzed patterns of moving violations from red light cameras, parking tickets and police stops between 2016 and 2021 in the District of Columbia. The article highlights findings …
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 …
Traffic Without the Police
Traffic enforcement and policing have become intertwined as a gateway for funneling overpoliced and marginalized communities into the criminal justice system. This article explores a new legal framework that decouples …
Reckless Lawmaking: How Debt-Based Driver’s License Suspension Laws Impose Harm and Waste Resources
This report examines the impacts of suspending driver’s licenses as a consequence of unpaid fines and fees and failure to appear in court. 16 individuals who had their license suspended …
Crimsumerism: Combating Consumer Abuses in the Criminal Legal System
Increasingly, criminal legal system debt is owed not only to the state, but also to a vast network of private companies profiting from the criminalization of poverty and communities of …
Traffic Tickets Plunged in Florida. It May Mean Painful Budget Cuts for Many Services
Florida’s dependence on fines and fees revenue has led to budget cuts for many services as traffic tickets have plunged since March 2020. Revenue from mostly traffic tickets helps pay …
Fees, Fines and Criminal Justice In Tennessee: How It All Works and Why It Matters
In Tennessee, fines and fees are used as both a punishment and a way to fund the justice system and other specific services. This report details the fines and fees …
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 …
Pocketbook Policing: How race shapes municipal reliance on punitive fines and fees in the Chicago suburbs
Using data from Chicagoland's suburbs, the authors explain why Black suburban municipalities are driven to rely on fines and fees to address budget shortfalls unlike officials of suburbs with different racial make-ups.