Fees & Fines
Increasingly, state and local governments attempt to finance operations by imposing more fees and fines — "legal financial obligations" — on people charged with crimes. Some of these assessments cover the costs of court operations and related service, but other "surcharges" finance activities unrelated to the criminal justice system. The result is that people emerge from prison saddled with increasingly large debt loads that impede their reentry back into their home communities.
The Brennan Center is exposing the effects of this new generation of legal financial obligations, and working to ensure the costs of government are not unfairly shifted to those least able to shoulder them. Our 2010 report, Criminal Justice Debt: A Barrier to Reentry, examines practices in the 15 states with the highest prison populations. We found that in the rush to collect, made all the more intense by the fiscal crises in many states, no one is considering the ways in which the resulting debt can undermine reentry prospects, pave the way back to prison or jail, and result in yet more costs to the public.
Our work in particular states supports these findings. Our 2010 report, The Hidden Costs of Florida’s Criminal Justice Fees, found that while much of Florida’s court-imposed fees are uncollectible, aggressive collection practices result in a range of collateral consequences: missed payments produce more fees, while unpaid costs prompt the suspension of driving privileges (and, relatedly, the ability to get to work). In the wake of our report, the Chief Judge of Leon County cancelled 8,000 bench warrants for overdue court costs.
Our 2009 report, Maryland’s Parole Supervision Fee: A Barrier to Reentry, found that most people on parole in Maryland were unable to even seek exemption from a $40 monthly parole fee. As a result, people emerged from parole in debt and, in many cases, with bad credit. In April 2011, Maryland passed a new state law to ensure that persons on parole are made aware of the opportunity for an exemption and the process by which to apply for one.
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A plan in California to charge inmates for their stay in local jails is short-sighted and fiscally insensible.
Reforming Criminal Justice Debt
The Brennan Center hosted a panel last week to highlight successful efforts to lessen criminal justice debt.
Rethinking Criminal Justice Debt
As states struggle to close persistent budget gaps, they are searching for ways to raise revenue. But imposing more fees on those in the criminal justice system is not the answer.
Illustrations by Risko
Saddled with Debt, Indigent Defendants Face New Paths Back to Prison
States are increasingly imposing onerous “user fees” on those convicted of crimes, making it almost impossible for the indigent to repay their debt and successfully re-enter society, according to separate reports released today by the Brennan Center for Justice and American Civil Liberties Union.
Florida’s practice of financing its criminal justice system with fees from the indigent creates a vicious cycle of debt for ex-offenders that threatens their successful re-entry into society, according to a new Brennan Center report released today.
Brennan Center Study Shows Parole Fees Undercut Reentry
Maryland’s parole supervision fee raises little state revenue, while burdening parolees with debt they cannot pay.
Testimony to Maryland House of Delegates on Fixing Parole Fee Exemption System
Testimony before the Maryland House of Delegates’ Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would ensure that indigent parolees are exempt from paying a supervision fee.
Testimony in Maryland House of Delegates in Support of Bill to Ease Burden of Criminal Justice Fees
Testimony before the Maryland House of Delegates’ Judiciary Committee in support of bill to fix exemption program for parole supervision fee.
Testimony in Maryland Senate Supporting Bill to Ease Burden of Fees on Indigent Parolees
Testimony before the Maryland Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee in support of bill to fix exemption program for parole supervision fee.
Evaluating the Reentry Hurdles of Fees and Fines Debt: A Checklist for State Reentry Taskforces
Information on the re-entry consequences of court-imposed financial obligations.
Pinched Courts Push to Bolster Budgets Through Fees and Fines
Valerie Gainous paid her debt to society, but almost went to jail because of a debt to Florida’s courts….
Here is a tale that sounds like it comes right from the pages of “Little Dorrit,” Charles Dickens’s scathing indictment of Victorian England’s debtors’ prisons. Unfortunately, it is happening in 21st-century America….