As Court Fees Rise, The Poor Are Paying The Price : NPR. The proliferation of court fees has prompted some states, like New Jersey, to use amnesty programs to encourage the thousands of people who owe fines to surrender in exchange for fee reductions. At the Fugitive Safe Surrender program, makeshift courtrooms allow judges to individually handle each case. Nicole Beemsterboer/NPR. Nicole Beemsterboer/NPR.
The proliferation of court fees has prompted some states, like New Jersey, to use amnesty programs to encourage the thousands of people who owe fines to surrender in exchange for fee reductions. At the Fugitive Safe Surrender program, makeshift courtrooms allow judges to individually handle each case.
Many courts are struggling to interpret a 1983 Supreme Court ruling protecting defendants from going to jail. system. A yearlong NPR. jail. The NPR. . parents or loved ones are involved in the criminal justice system. Helping Former Prisoners Return to. A black male’s chance of going to prison.
Nicole Beemsterboer/NPR. In Augusta, Ga., a judge sentenced Tom Barrett to 1. In Ionia, Mich., 1. Kyle Dewitt caught a fish out of season; then a judge sentenced him to three days in jail. In Grand Rapids, Mich., Stephen Papa, a homeless Iraq War veteran, spent 2.
GUILTY AND CHARGED: KEY FINDINGS NPR's yearlong investigation included more than 1. It also included a nationwide survey — with help from NYU's Brennan Center for Justice and the National Center for State Courts — of which states are charging defendants and offenders fees. Findings of this investigation include: Defendants are charged for a long list of government services that were once free — including ones that are constitutionally required. Impoverished people sometimes go to jail when they fall behind paying these fees.
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- The Secret to Beating the System without Going to Jail and the Inside Scoop for Obtaining FREE CASH. 7:06 AM. Dear Entrepreneur: My friends and business associates.
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Since 2. 01. 0, 4. Many courts are struggling to interpret a 1. Supreme Court ruling protecting defendants from going to jail because they are too poor to pay their fines. Technology, such as electronic monitors, aimed at helping defendants avoid jail time is available only to those who can afford to pay for it. Listen to Morning Edition and All Things Considered all this week for additional stories from this investigation. The common thread in these cases, and scores more like them, is the jail time wasn't punishment for the crime, but for the failure to pay the increasing fines and fees associated with the criminal justice system.
A yearlong NPR investigation found that the costs of the criminal justice system in the United States are paid increasingly by the defendants and offenders. It's a practice that causes the poor to face harsher treatment than others who commit identical crimes and can afford to pay. Some judges and politicians fear the trend has gone too far. A state- by- state survey conducted by NPR found that defendants are charged for many government services that were once free, including those that are constitutionally required. For example: In at least 4. District of Columbia, defendants can be billed for a public defender. In at least 4. 1 states, inmates can be charged room and board for jail and prison stays.
In at least 4. 4 states, offenders can get billed for their own probation and parole supervision. And in all states except Hawaii, and the District of Columbia, there's a fee for the electronic monitoring devices defendants and offenders are ordered to wear.
These fees — which can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars — get charged at every step of the system, from the courtroom, to jail, to probation. Defendants and offenders pay for their own arrest warrants, their court- ordered drug and alcohol- abuse treatment and to have their DNA samples collected. They are billed when courts need to modernize their computers. In Washington state, for example, they even get charged a fee for a jury trial — with a 1.
In Allegan County, Mich., Frederick Cunningham pleaded guilty to forging a prescription for pain medication and was told to pay $1,0. Testimony from a court official in a case where Cunningham challenged his fees shows that $5. Those costs include the salaries of court employees, for heat, telephones, copy machines and even to underwrite the cost of the county employees' fitness gym. The funds from the rising costs of court fees in places like Allegan County, Mich., are used to help pay for all sorts of court- related items, including this fitness center for county employees. Joseph Shapiro/NPR.
Joseph Shapiro/NPR. The funds from the rising costs of court fees in places like Allegan County, Mich., are used to help pay for all sorts of court- related items, including this fitness center for county employees.
Joseph Shapiro/NPR. The only reason that the court is in operation and doing business at that point in time is because that defendant has come in and is a user of those services," says Michael Day, the administrator for the Allegan County Circuit Court. They don't necessarily see themselves as a customer because, obviously, they're not choosing to be there. But in reality they are."Courts usually offer alternatives to paying fees, like doing community service. But sometimes there's a cost with that, too. Jayne Fuentes, in Benton County, Wash., went on the county work crew to pay off her fines — only there was a $5- a- day charge, which she had to borrow from her daughter. Alternatives For The Poor?
The people most likely to face arrest and go through the courts are poor, says sociologist Alexes Harris, at the University of Washington. She's writing a book on these fees and the people who struggle to pay them."They tend to be people of color, African- Americans and Latinos," Harris says. They tend to be high school dropouts, they tend to be people with mental illness, with substance abuse. So these are already very poor and marginalized people in our society, and then we impose these fiscal penalties to them and expect that they make regular payments, when in fact the vast majority are unable to do so."Many fees can be waived for indigent defendants, but judges are more likely to put the poor on a more manageable payment plan.
Courts, however, will then sometimes tack on extra fees, penalties for missed payments and may even charge interest. In Washington state, for example, there's 1.
As a result, it can be hard for someone who's poor to make that debt ever go away. One state commission found that the average amount in felony cases adds up to $2,5. If someone paid a typical amount — $1. After four years of faithful payments, the person would now owe $3,0.
Virginia Dickerson, of Richland, Wash., has been drug- free for more than three years and out of jail for over a year. She's living in a treatment house and working as a waitress and cook. On the day last fall when NPR reporters met her, Dickerson was at the courthouse trying to get a summary of how much she owed in fines, fees and interest. The total: almost $1.
I don't want to have to worry about going to jail. And that is my biggest fear," she says.
Relapses aren't even a thought to me. This is the only thing that is hindering me.". Stephen Papa was sentenced to 2. At his hearing, the judge asked for a $5.
Papa, who was homeless and on the verge of starting a new job, had only $2. Grant Hindsley for NPR. Grant Hindsley for NPR. Stephen Papa was sentenced to 2. At his hearing, the judge asked for a $5. Papa, who was homeless and on the verge of starting a new job, had only $2. Grant Hindsley for NPR.
When an impoverished person fails to keep up with these payments, he has violated probation. There may be more fees and penalties.
In some states, people who don't pay can lose their driver's license or benefits like food stamps. Sometimes felons have to pay before they get back their right to vote. NPR's reporting came across many of these situations, including a woman in her 6. It was discovered she still owed $5. Other examples included people who didn't pay court costs and lost their driver's license, but they kept driving — to get to work, to get kids to school — until they were caught, went to jail and were assessed thousands of dollars in more fines and fees. The result is that people face arrest and go underground to avoid police. But this means they cut themselves off from job opportunities, welfare benefits or other programs that could get them on their feet."There are a lot of things you can't do.
A lot of jobs you can't apply for," says Todd Clear, who studies crime policy and is provost of Rutgers University, Newark. Lots of benefits you can't apply for. If you have a license, a driver's license that needs to be renewed, you can't renew it.
So what it means is you live your entire life under a cloud. In a very real sense, they drop out of the real society."Eddie Restrepo was one of those dropouts. Three years ago, the Iraq Army veteran came home to New Jersey but couldn't find work.
He was homeless and all he had was his car. He didn't have the money to renew his license — or to pay the fines when he got caught by police. He says he was caught twice: driving with a suspended license, with no registration or insurance, and for many unpaid parking tickets. There was also interest that went unpaid."I was always hiding from the cops," he says. If I was driving, I had to turn left when they were coming right.
I was always trying to hide."Hide caption. Hundreds of New Jersey residents line up for the state's Fugitive Safe Surrender program. During four days last November, people with unpaid fines and fees were able to get significant reductions. Nicole Beemsterboer/NPR. The program is designed specifically for nonviolent felonies. The first stop after waiting in line is inside a church to officially surrender.
Nicole Beemsterboer/NPR. Those seeking to adjudicate their cases then go across the street to the New Jersey City Armory, where they wait for judges to review their cases. Joseph Shapiro/NPR. Nicole Beemsterboer/NPR. People who owed thousands of dollars in court fines and fees received significant reductions in what they owed. A cashier was set up so the fees could be paid immediately. Nicole Beemsterboer/NPR.
During the four- day Fugitive Safe Surrender program, more than 4,5. Joseph Shapiro/NPR. During a four- day period last November, nearly 4,5.