The Brennan Center for Justice has issued a toolkit that instructs advocates of the poor who are threatened with incarceration for their inability to pay court fees, or other related criminal justice debts. On October 27, 2010 Reentry Central posted a report by the Brennan Center for Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union detailing how states across the country, in the face of mounting budget deficits, are more aggressively going after poor people who have already served their criminal sentences, and in so doing undermining re-entry prospects, paving the way back to prison or jail, and burdening the public with yet more costs.
Criminal Justice Debt: A Toolkit for Action offers five recommendations for advocated to use in fighting the new trend of establishing virtual debtor’s prisons in America. The recommendations include:
Conduct Impact Analysis of Proposed and Existing Fees
Such studies can show lawmakers that the imposition and enforcement of fees and fines has both
financial and social costs, and that these laws fail to generate revenue.
Create and Enforce Exemptions for Indigence
The most effective way to break the cycle of debt and poverty that criminal justice debt perpetuates is to create exemptions for indigent people and effectively enforce them.
End Incarceration and Supervision for Non-Willful Failure to Pay
Criminal justice debt ensures that people who are no threat to public safety remain enmeshed in the system. Often people facing the possibility of re-incarceration or further supervision have no right to counsel. Such practices raise constitutional questions, are costly to states, and decrease public safety as court and criminal justice resources are diverted.
Eliminate Unnecessary Interest, Late Fees, and Collateral Consequences
Where exemptions are not possible, other policies can reduce the onerous burden of debt. Eliminating interest and late fees makes debt more manageable. Collateral punishments, such as suspending driver’s licenses, only make it more difficult for people to obtain the employment
necessary to make payments.
Focus on Rehabilitation through Meaningful Workforce Development
Offering optional community service as a means for paying criminal justice debt has the potential to improve the long-term job prospects for those who enroll, improving reentry prospects and providing states with an alternative means to collect debt.
The toolkit also offers an overview on criminal justice debt, and gives examples of how some states have worked to change a system that was not only costly, but also ineffective.
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