How the Use of Fees, Fines and Bail Have Been Used to Criminalize Poverty: Can Reforms Help Put the Genie Back in the Bottle?
Keywords:
excessive criminal fees and fines, mass incarceration, prison reform, criminalization of the poor, eighth amendment jurisprudence, criminal justice reform
Abstract
The rallying cry of many American politicians is Law and Order. This tactic wins votes. As a result of its Wars on Crime, Drugs, and the Impoverished, America has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. This article explores how, over the past few decades, politicians have charged criminal defendants every imaginable fee and fine as they wind their way through the criminal justice system in order to fund the massive prison complex that the politicians do not want to tax Americans for. These tactics have criminalized poverty, as they disproportionately impact the most marginalized in American society. These abusive and unfair tactics have drawn scrutiny from policymakers in recent years, including the American Bar Association, which adopted stringent guidelines to help inform policymakers of this critical problem in an effort to reign in the abusive use of fees and fines. The paper discusses recent reforms, many at the urging of the Department of Justice, Office for Access to Justice, in conjunction with the ABA. It discusses the main Supreme Court cases that considered the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment.
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References
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American Civil Liberties Union News & Commentary (2021). Block the Vote: How Politicians are Trying to Block Voters from the Ballot Box (August 18, 2021), https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberies/block-the-vote-voter-supression-in-2020 (Accessed: April 2, 2024).
Aizenman, N. (2023) National Public Radio. How the U.S. gun violence death rate compares with the rest of the world (October 31, 2023). https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/10/31/1209683893/how-the-u-s-gun-violence-death-rate-compares-with-the-rest-of-the-world (Accessed: March 27, 2024).
American Civil Liberties Union (undated). Felony Disenfranchisement Laws (Map). https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/felony-disenfrancisement-laws-map (Accessed: March 28, 2024).
Beckett, K. A., Harris, A. M., & Evans, Heather (2008). Washington State Minority and Justice Commission, Olympia, Washington. The Assessment and Consequences of Legal Financial Obligations in Washington State. https://media.spokesman.com./documents/2009/05/study_LFOimpact.pdf (Accessed: March 30, 2024).
Business Insider India (2021). Ranked: The world’s 20 strongest militaries. July 13, 2021. https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/ranked-the-worlds-20-strongest-militaries/slidelist/51930339.cms (Accessed: March 27, 2024).
Council of Economic Advisers (2015). Fines, Fees, and Bail. Payments in the Criminal Justice System that Disproportionately Impact the Poor. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/page/files/1215_cea_fine_fee_bail_issue_brief.pdf (Accessed: March 25, 2024).
Data Pandas (2024). Gun Ownership by Country 2024. https://www.datapandas.org/ranking/gun-ownership-by-country (Accessed: March 27, 2024).
Fine & Fees Justice Center (2022). Free to Drive: National Campaign to End Debt-Based License Restrictions. https://finesandfeesjusticecenter.org/campaigns/national-drivers-license-suspension-campaign-free-to-drive/ (Accessed: March 31, 2024).
Gedge, S. (2024) Institute for Justice. Timbs v. Indiana: The Fight Against Excessive Fines Five Years Later. https://www:timbs-v-indiana-the-fight-against-excessive-fines-five-years-later (Accessed: April 1, 2024).
Haight, K. M., (2020). William & Mary Law Review. Paying for the Privilege of Punishment: Reinterpreting Excessive Fines Clause Doctrine to Allow State Prisoners to Seek Relief from Pay-to-Stay Fees. Vol. 62 (2020-2021) Issue 1, Article 6, pp. 286-323. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol62/iss1/6/ (Accessed: March 27, 2024).
Heller, T. (2018) An Overview of the Law of Attorney Fees in the United States: The American Rule is not so Simple After All. June, 2018. LeXonomica, Vol 10, No. 1, pp. 45-66.
ICAN (The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) (2024), Which countries have nuclear weapons? https://www.icanw.org/nuclear_arsenals (Accessed May 21, 2024).
Jahangeer, K. (2019) American Bar Association. Fees and Fines: The Criminalization of Poverty (December 16, 2019). https://www.americanbar.org/groups/government_public/publications/public_lawyer_articles/fees-fines/ (Accessed March 27, 2024).
Leach-Kemon, K., Sirull, R. & Glenn, S. (2023) On gun violence, the United States is an outlier. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. October 31, 2023. https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/gun-violence/united-states-outlier (Accessed: March 27, 2024).
Macquire, E. (2013) CNN travel. ‘Hidden’ airline charges: Dirty tricks or customer choice? https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/airline-charges/index.html (Accessed: April 2, 2024).
Mendelson, S. (2023) The US is leaving millions behind: American exceptionalism needs to change by 2030. Brookings, April 10 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-us-is-leaving-millions-behind-american-exceptionalism-needs-to-change-by-2030/ (Accessed: March 27, 2024).
Menendez, M., Eisen, L. B. (2019). Brennan Center for Justice. The Steep Costs of Criminal Justice Fees and Fines. November 21, 2019. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/steep-costs-criminal-justice-fees-and-fines (Accessed: March 24, 2024).
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, National Archives (undated), Constitutional Amendments – Amendment 24 – ‘Elimination of Poll Taxes’. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/constitutional-amendments-amendment-24-elimination-poll-taxes (Accessed: March 28, 2024).
Sainato, M. (2022) The Guardian. US prisons. Slavery by any name is wrong’ the push to end forced labor in prisons. September 27, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/27/slavery-loophole-unpaid-labor-in-prisons (Accessed: March 28, 2024).
Sawyer, W. & Wagner, P. (2024) Prison Policy Initiative. Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2024. March 14, 2024. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2024.html. (Accessed: March 26, 2024).
Smart, T. (2024) The 10 Largest Economies in the World. U.S. News & World Report, February 22, 2024. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/the-top-10-economies-in-the-world (Accessed: March 27, 2024).
Teigen, A. (2020) National Conference of State Legislators. Civil and Criminal Justice. Assessing Fines and Fees in the Criminal Justice System. January 2020. https://documents.ncsl.org/wwwncsl/Criminal-Justice/Fines-and-Fees_v02.pdf (Accessed: March 25, 2024).
The World Bank (2024). GDP (current US$). World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD (Accessed: May 3, 2024).
United States Department of Justice, Office for Access to Justice (2023). Access to Justice SPOTLIGHT, Fines & Fees (2023). https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-11/doi-access-to-justice-spotlight-fines-and-fees-pdf (Accessed: April 1, 2024).
USA FACTS (2023). What does living at the poverty line look like? September 18, 2023. https://usafacts.org/articles/what-does-living-at-the-poverty-line-look-like/ (Accessed: March 29, 2024).
U.S. News & World Report (2024). https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/best-countries-for-education (accessed: March 27, 2024).
Vera (Undated). Criminalization & Racial Disparities. Undated. https://www.vera.org/ending-mass-incarceration/criminalization-racial-disparities (Accessed: March 29, 2024).
Wagner, P. and Rabuy, B. (2017) Prison Policy Initiative. Following the Money of Mass Incarceration. January 25, 2017. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/money.html Accessed: March 29, 2024).
Published
2024-06-27
How to Cite
Heller T. A. (2024). How the Use of Fees, Fines and Bail Have Been Used to Criminalize Poverty: Can Reforms Help Put the Genie Back in the Bottle?. LeXonomica, 16(1), 1-44. https://doi.org/10.18690/lexonomica.16.1.1-44.2024
Section
Articles