Page 55 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

User fees, those fees charged to defendants involved in (or “using”) the criminal justice system, vary widely by jurisdiction .6 They are imposed by the municipality, county, state, or all three .7 Some jurisdictions charge a defendant a fee just to apply for a public defender . Once a person is approved for a public defender, a determination that necessarily hinges on the individual’s proof of indigence, he or she may be charged a reimbursement fee for the costs of defense services .8 Some jurisdictions even charge fees to reimburse the state for the cost of prosecuting the defendant .9
Most states have a wide range of “surcharges” and administrative fees that are imposed at various times throughout the process . If the defendant is sentenced to incarceration, he or she may be charged a “pay to stay” fee intended to defray the cost of incarceration .10 If placed on probation or other community supervision, individuals may then be charged a monthly fee intended to help cover the cost of supervision .11 Some jurisdictions charge an administrative fee to set up a payment plan for those who cannot afford to pay the entire debt at once .12
Thirteen states contract with private companies to manage probation .13 These companies offer their services free to a municipality and then charge the individuals under supervision to make their profit, with incarceration as the penalty for nonpayment . The system is known as “offender funded .”14 One advertisement for the Georgia-based company Freedom Probation Services states, “If your municipality is looking to reduce incarceration rates and increase the collection of fines and court costs in the municipal court, please give our office a call today .”15 Similarly, Alabama Court Services, another private company, declared, “All services are provided at no charge to the courts that we serve . . . . All programs are offender funded .”16
In addition to the fees themselves, many jurisdictions charge interest, collection fees, and penalties for late payments . The state of Washington charges 12 percent interest assessed annually on outstanding criminal justice debt .17 Individuals in Michigan are charged a 20 percent late fee after fifty-six days .18 In Alabama, individuals must pay a collection fee of 30 percent of the amount due if their payments are ninety days overdue .19 Florida law authorizes private collection agencies to charge individuals up to a 40 percent surcharge on the amount collected .20
6 Bannon eT al., supra note 5, at 7-11; see also State-by-State Court Fees, NPR, http://www.npr.org/2014/05/19/312455680/ state-by-state-court-fees (last visited Jun. 1, 2015)
7 Id.
8 Id. at 12; see also Adam Liptak, Debt to Society Is Least of Costs for Ex-Convicts, n.y. Times, Feb. 23, 2006, http://
www.nytimes.com/2006/02/23/national/23fees.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
9 Shapiro, supra note 5.
10 NPR, State-by-State Court Fees, supra note 6.
11 Id.
12 Bannon eT al., supra note 5, at 14, 18.
13 Tina Rosenberg, Out of Debtors’ Prison, with Law as the Key, n.y. Times, Mar. 27, 2015, http://opinionator.blogs. nytimes.com/2015/03/27/shutting-modern-debtors-prisons/?_r=0 (last visited Jun. 1, 2015).
14 Sarah Stillman, Get Out of Jail, Inc.: Does the Alternatives-to-Incarceration Industry Profit from Injustice?, The new yorker, Jun. 23, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/23/get-out-of-jail-inc (last visited Jun 1. 2015).
15 Id.
16 Id.
17 am. civil liBerTies union, modern day deBTors’ prisons 4 (Feb. 2014), available at https://aclu-wa.org/sites/default/ files/attachments/Modern%20Day%20Debtor%27s%20Prison%20Final%20%283%29.pdf
18 Bannon eT al., supra note 5, at 17.
19 Id.
20 Id.
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