Debt Sentence: How Fines And Fees Hurt Working Families
This report shares the results of a national survey of over 5,600 adults to see how court-imposed fines and fees affect people across the country.
Racial Disparities
Arrested Mobility: Barriers To Walking, Biking, And E-Scooter Use In Black Communities In The United States
Inequitable infrastructure investment has created mobility obstacles and racially discriminatory policing in transportation for Black Americans and people of color. Although more than half of the nation’s most dangerous streets …
Police Killings and Municipal Reliance on Fine-and-Fee Revenue
Between 2016 and 2021, more than 400 unarmed people were killed by police during traffic stops. In addition, metropolitan areas that rely more on revenue from fines and fees experience …
Fines and Fees: Consequences and Opportunities for Reform
The utilization of fines and fees in the criminal legal system for revenue generation raises substantial questions regarding equity and may create perverse incentives for government entities dependent on the …
Policy Blueprint For Ending Carceral Profiteering
Each year, over 4,000 private corporations generate $80 billion by exploiting incarcerated people’s need to stay in contact with their loved ones and access medical care, quality food, and hygiene …
High-Frequency Location Data Shows That Race Affects The Likelihood of Being Stopped and Fined For Speeding
Prior research on race, speeding, and citations has focused on the effects of a driver’s race on the punishment received, never exploring whether race could also influence the probability of …
Removing Barriers to Youth and Family Success: The Role of State Juvenile Cost of Care Fees
For youth in Idaho, courts assess fines and fees with little regard for how their lives may be affected. Cost of care fees, also known as parent reimbursement fees, can …
How a Wealthy Cleveland Suburb Profits From Ticketing Black Drivers
Black Clevelanders say Bratenahl officers target them when they drive through the affluent and majority White village. From January to September 2022, almost all of the 1,006 tickets were issued …
Rethinking How Law Enforcement Is Deployed
To mitigate the risk of harm, municipalities have tasked non-law enforcement responders with addressing nonviolent social and medical issues and narrowed police discretion and duties in traffic enforcement. Many have …
Regressive Revenue Sourcing by Local Governments
With limits on revenue sources, such as property taxes and intergovernmental transfers, localities are increasingly turning to regressive and discriminatory non tax alternatives such as fines, fees, and forfeitures to …