cash register justice
Can’t Pay That Traffic Fine? Try an Installment Plan
|
Non-payment of traffic fines in many states can lead to license suspensions and a vicious spiral of debt for low-income families. A New York legislator has a better idea.
cash register justice
Overdose in an Arizona Prison? Expect a Bill
|
The state’s prison authorities defend a new policy of charging inmates for hospital drug treatment as a disciplinary measure for those who use contraband drugs. Advocates call it counterproductive and cruel for patients who earn less than a dollar a day.
cash register justice
OK Has Grown Increasingly Hooked on Court Fees and Fines
|
Oklahoma’s state and local government agencies’ funding streams have become increasingly reliant on fines, fees and court costs assessed to defendants, a financial crisis in the making as the state’s criminal justice reforms begin to lower the numbers of felony cases.
cash register justice
Income-Based Fines Could Reduce Justice Debts for Poor: Study
|
Americans owe nearly $136 billion in criminal debt—most of which is unrecoverable. Scholars and experts gathered at a Brookings forum Friday to discuss a new proposal for “graduated sanctions” that could remove the crushing burden from justice-involved individuals and their families.
cash register justice
San Francisco Hailed as National Model for Ending Court Fees
|
Under a court order, San Francisco last August forgave $32 million in fines and fees for those involved in the criminal justice system, and eliminated all such costs going forward. Speakers at a John Jay College panel last week said other jurisdictions should take note.
cash register justice
Who Profits From Pay-for-Treatment Diversion?
|
Law enforcement-assisted diversion and addiction treatment programs are hailed as common-sense alternatives to incarceration for low-level offenses. But they can create a “treatment industry” that exploits low-income offenders, a conference at John Jay College was told.
cash register justice
Driven to Debt: How Traffic Fines ‘Punish Americans for Their Poverty’
|
Millions of Americans face a horrible choice between driving with a license that was suspended because of their failure to pay onerous penalties, and going to a doctor’s appointment, picking up a child from school—or going to work to pay their fine, a retired California judge said Thursday.
Reforming the System
Can Local Governments Stop Relying on ‘Cash Register Justice’?
|
The movement to reduce court fines and fees, a practice that reformers say criminalizes poverty, is gaining traction across the country with bipartisan support, a conference at John Jay College was told Thursday. But many local governments continue to balk at giving up a practice that has turned into a key source of revenue.
cash register justice
You’re Better Off ‘Rich and Guilty Than Poor and Innocent,’ Panel Told
|
“It’s important to understand how someone who has money is able to buy their way out of jail or prison, so you’re much better off in our justice system if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent,” said a panelist at the Cash Register Justice Conference at John Jay College Thursday.
Courts
How Our ‘Two-Tiered Justice System’ Exploits the Poor
|
Some 10 million Americans now hold criminal debt totaling over $50 billion, burdened by accumulating court fines and fees they are unable to pay. It’s a hidden practice that damages communities and ruins lives, but the federal government seems to be looking the other way, writes an FSU law professor.