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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:51 am
Time: 12:51 am
Results for court debt
3 results foundAuthor: Rhode Island Family Life Center Title: Court Debt and Related Incarceration in Rhode Island Summary: Every year, thousands of individuals sit in the Rhode Island jail not for crimes, but because they owe money to the state. Court debt is the most common reason that people are put in jail in Rhode Island--about 2,500 times a year. This incarceration is unnecessary and overly hasty, is an inefficient use of state finances, and disrupts peoples' lives. Rhode Island's system of court debt is considerably more punitive, more costly to defendants, and less accomodating to indigent individuals than other New England states. OpenDoors encourages policymakers to end the incarceration of the poor for inability to pay court fines. Details: Providence, RI: Rhode Island Family Life Center, 2008. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 18, 2011 at: http://opendoorsri.org/sites/default/files/CourtDebt.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://opendoorsri.org/sites/default/files/CourtDebt.pdf Shelf Number: 121387 Keywords: Court DebtCourt Fines (Rhode Island)IndigentsPoverty |
Author: Salas, Mario Title: Driven by Dollars: a State-by-State Analysis of Driver's License Suspension Laws for Failure to Pay Court Debt Summary: Across the country, millions of people have lost their licenses simply because they are too poor to pay, effectively depriving them of reliable, lawful transportation necessary to get to and from work, take children to school, keep medical appointments, care for ill or disabled family members, or, paradoxically, to meet their financial obligations to the courts. State laws suspending or revoking driver's licenses to punish failure to pay court costs and fines are ubiquitous, despite the growing consensus that this kind of policy is unfair and counterproductive. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia use driver's license suspension to coerce payment of government debts arising out of traffic or criminal convictions. Most state statutes contain no safeguards to distinguish between people who intentionally refuse to pay and those who default due to poverty, punishing both groups equally harshly as if they were equally blameworthy. License-for-payment systems punish people-not for any crime or traffic violation, but for unpaid debts. Typically, when a state court finds a person guilty of a crime or traffic violation, it orders the person to pay a fine or other penalty along with other administrative court costs and fees. If the person does not pay on time, the court or motor vehicle agency can-and in some states, must-punish the person by suspending his or her driver's license until the person pays in full or makes other payment arrangements with the court. By cutting people off from jobs, license-for-payment systems create a self-defeating vicious cycle. A state suspends the license even though a person cannot afford to pay, which then makes the person less likely to pay once he or she cannot drive legally to work. The person now faces an unenviable choice: drive illegally and risk further punishment (including incarceration in some states), or stay home and forgo the needs of his or her family. In this way, license-for-payment systems create conditions akin to modern-day debtor's prisons. Despite their widespread use, license-for-payment systems are increasingly drawing critical scrutiny from motor vehicle safety professionals, anti-poverty and civil rights advocates, and policymakers. New state-based advocacy campaigns across the country have produced reforms by way of the courts, legislatures, and executive agencies. To provide national context for these efforts, we analyzed license-for-payment systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to generate conclusions about the prevalence and uses of license-for-payment. Our key findings include: - 43 states (and D.C.) suspend driver's licenses because of unpaid court debt;6 - Only four states require an ability-to-pay or "willfulness" determination before a license can be suspended for nonpayment; - 19 states-almost 40% of the nation-have laws imposing mandatory suspension upon nonpayment of court debt; and, - Virtually all states that suspend for unpaid court debt do so indefinitely, with rules that prevent reinstatement until payment is satisfied. All over the country, people are struggling to earn a livelihood and meet the needs of their families while their licenses remain indefinitely suspended because of court debt they cannot pay. At a time of historic income and wealth inequality, states should urgently reexamine whether the policy's immense costs to individuals, communities, and states overwhelm its benefits. At a minimum, license-for-payment states should review their policies to ensure their systems provide due process, with adequate safeguards in place to make certain no person is punished because of poverty. Details: Charlottesville, VA: Legal Aid Justice Center, 2017. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 8, 2018 at: https://www.justice4all.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Driven-by-Dollars.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.justice4all.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Driven-by-Dollars.pdf Shelf Number: 151445 Keywords: Court DebtDebtors PrisonDrivers License SuspensionPayment of FinesTraffic FinesTraffic Infractions |
Author: Alabama Appleseed Title: Under Pressure: How fines and fees hurt people, undermine public safety, and drive Alabama's racial wealth divide Summary: We surveyed 980 Alabamians from 41 counties about their experience with court debt, including 879 people who owed money themselves and 101 people who were paying debt for others. Of the people who owed money themselves, we found: More than eight in ten gave up necessities like rent, food, medical bills, car payments, and child support, in order to pay down their court debt. Almost four in ten admitted to having committed at least one crime to pay of their court debt. One in five people whose only previous offenses were traffic violations admitted to committing more serious offenses, including felonies, to pay off their traffic tickets. The most common offense committed to pay off court debt was selling drugs, followed by stealing and sex work. Survey respondents also admitted to passing bad checks, gambling, robbery, selling food stamps, and selling stolen items. 44% used payday or title loans to cover court debt. Almost two-thirds received money or food assistance from a faith-based charity or church that they would not have had to request if they weren't paying court debt. Almost seven in ten were at some point declared indigent by a court, and by almost every measure, indigent survey-takers were treated more harshly than their non-indigent peers. They were more likely to have been turned down for or kicked out of diversion programs for financial reasons, more likely to have their debt increased, be threatened with jail, or actually be jailed for non-payment of court debt. Almost half of the people who took our survey did not think they would ever be able to pay what they owe. The 101 people who took our survey who were paying debt for other people (usually family members) were more likely to be middle-aged African-American women than to belong to any other demographic group. While others their age were saving money for retirement, helping their children with college or other expenses, paying down mortgages, or taking vacations, these African-American women were disproportionately burdened with paying court debt for their families. Details: Birmingham: Alabama Appleseed, 2018. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 13, 2018 at: http://www.alabamaappleseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AA1240-FinesandFees-10-10-FINAL.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: http://www.alabamaappleseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AA1240-FinesandFees-10-10-FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 152919 Keywords: Court DebtCriminal DebtCriminal Fines and FeesPovertyRacial Disparities |