Voting Rights Archives - Fines and Fees Justice Center

Locked Out 2022: Estimates Of People Denied Voting Rights Due To A Felony Conviction

Laws and policies across the United States have disenfranchised an estimated 4.6 million people as of 2022 due to felony convictions. This report chronicles felony disenfranchisement over the past 20 …

Fines and Fees Are a Barrier to Criminal Record-Clearing

Nationally, court debt is estimated to be over $27 billion; 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 …

Fines Prevent Too Many People From Voting In Florida

In 2018, Floridians approved the constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to nearly everyone with a criminal record upon completion of their sentence. 1.4 million people became eligible to vote …

Step One to an Antiracist State Revenue Policy: Eliminate Criminal Justice Fees and Reform Fines

Many state revenue policies are rooted in racist history and continue to worsen racial inequities and harm public safety. For example, the white supremacist group, the Redeemers, took political power …

The Future of Felon Disenfranchisement Reform: Evidence from the Campaign to Restore Voting Rights in Florida

In 2018, Amendment 4 sought to end felon disenfranchisement in Florida. This article outlines the history of Amendment 4 and shows how unpaid fines and fees undermined the campaign’s efforts. …

Stripping the Gears of White Supremacy: A Call to Abate Reliance on Court Fines and Fees and Revitalize Local Taxation

The imposition of court debt began in the 1960s and became more prominent in the 1980s through fines, fees, costs, assessments, asset forfeiture, and restitution. States and municipalities have come …

National Center for Access to Justice Fines and Fees Index

In 2016, the National Center for Access to Justice debuted it’s Justice Index and in May 2020, it was updated for the second time. The Fines and Fees Index, an …

Who Must Pay to Regain the Vote? A 50-State Survey (Update)

This report is an updated review of each U.S. state’s voting rights laws as they relate to payment of court fines, fees, and restitution.