Neither the Constitutions Framers nor the document they created was flawless. . He cites bail bond corporations, which charge high fees and interest, and private supervision and collection companies, which charge additional fees and often rely on arrest warrants to secure payment. I can tell you, nobody can do that. Examples are 4.75 percent interest (Florida), 7 percent interest (Georgia), 12 percent interest (Washington), a 15 percent penalty on unpaid balances and a 30 percent collection fee (Illinois), and a 19 percent collection fee for delinquent payments and a $35 fee (Arizona). But, you know what, for some LFOs, that may not matter. Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, visits Skid Row in Los Angeles. When the United States Constitution was first ratified by the states, it did not contain a Bill of Rights, and it did not prohibit cruel and unusual punishments. WATKINS:That was Washington State municipal court judge Linda Edmonds. Lifelong ties to the system. was really concerned about how his mom perceived him because of his own shame. The program was moderated by Lourdes Rosado, chief of the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Office of the Attorney General, and prominently featured the following panelists: Alexes Harris, associate professor, Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Chiraag Bains, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Jessica Feierman, associate director, Juvenile Law Center, Danielle Elyce Hirsch, assistant director of the Civil Justice Division, Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, Nick Allen, staff attorney, Columbia Legal Services. And for poor people, they have to express it every month for the rest of their lives? Explore our new 15-unit high school curriculum. The calculation is as follows: if the average cost to jurisdic- tions to collect criminal fees and fines is at least $0.34 for every $1 collected, and if it costs the IRS only $0.034 to collect a dollar of federal tax revenue, then the jurisdiction cost minus the IRS cost is $0.3366, or 99 percent of the IRS cost the percentage of wasted resources. You pay for a jury fee; if you opt for a jury to hear you, to adjudicate your case, you're charged for that jury. Technology, such as electronic monitors, aimed at helping defendants avoid jail time is available only to those who can afford to pay for it. So there's several layers of punishment, and in addition to that, they have a felony conviction with a host of collateral consequences. On the third LFO, he owes $3,500 in principal and $3,300 in interest. State and local governments, with support from the federal government, should respond to the special rapporteurs findings by working together to remedy the two-tiered system of justice, CJPP and Human Rights Watch said. (4) Some new punishment practices, such as lethal injection or long-term solitary confinement, appear to pose a risk of excessive physical or mental pain. So what's supposed to happen if someone has this debt, they're not making payments, the court should summon them to court. I mean, beyond the perverse incentive that provides a justice system, how profitable is that?HARRIS:There's no fiscal accounting system that allows one, like myself, to dig in and really map out where that money goes. Research shows clearly that the chance of being caught is a vastly more effective deterrent than even draconian punishment. Smaller things, not just court and post, but other ways that the justice system is profiting off of individuals. And they may think that's it and don't necessarily recognize that it's going to balloon. Alston endorsed legislation known as The Right to Rest Act, being considered in several western states, which would prevent cities from criminalizing actions by people linked to their lack of housing and force governments to find rights-respecting solutions. There's $200 in Washington for just paperwork and processing.WATKINS:Yeah, I was just going to say, I was really struck by that one, because you know, reformers often refer to something informally called "the trial penalty," which is this notion that the system punishes you for not taking a plea deal, but forcing them to give you an expensive trial. Opponents of the Constitution feared that this new power would allow Congress to use cruel punishments as a tool for oppressing the people. In the state of Washington, we are one of the, if not the, lowest, funded court system in the country. "How much did you spend on that?" It's not possible. This saying (not in the original game) was made into a Facebook meme by Leftist Gamer Memes on October 17, 2020. . So this is already, in general, disproportionally a marginalized population, and then we saddle them with a felony conviction, which has a host of consequences, and in addition to the financial debt. According to Feierman, the JLC found that the problem is widespread and highly problematic. The report outlines the types of costs imposed: Court costs (27 states). And then you go to the window, and discover that it's four times higher and eight years later, it's X number of times higher than that.HARRIS:So individuals are shocked when they get their bills, and seeing it balloon. In order to really figure this out, we have to have jurisdictions that are willing to open their books and help us understand, "How much are you really recovering? LFOs bring more emotional strain and delegitimizing of the justice system. This is what our taxpayer money actually should go towards in the criminal justice system, but fees are for people who go through the court. Poverty and excessive legal punishments contribute significantly to the . It makes it very, very difficult for people to be rehabilitated or reintegrated into their communities.WATKINS:Right, you're saddling people with these large debts at the same time that they have a felony conviction, which is preventing them from getting the kind of employment that would allow them to pay the fee.HARRIS: Exactly, and some employers these days are looking at credit scores, right? COBURN:Well, I think after becoming a judge and being on the benchrealizing my role of when I'm imposing it and what are all the laws that are applicable regarding what is mandatory, what can be waived? Justices Scalia and Thomas argue that the four questions raised above should be answered as follows: (1) The standards of cruelty that prevailed in 1791, the year the Eighth Amendment was adopted, provide the appropriate benchmark for determining whether a punishment is cruel and unusual. At the webinar, Nick Allen delved into this last bucket of restitution LFOs and the issues they present. Progressive perspectives on the Eighth Amendment insist that evolving standards of decency must shape and inform the Supreme Courts application of the Eighth Amendment. Major criminal justice reforms such as removing mandatory fines, providing relief for poor defendants and assessing the ability to pay would go far in correcting a criminal justice system that punishes low-income people, a Rutgers University-New Brunswick study finds. What Can You Do? So even one policy maker I interviewed said that, "The system allows for people to every month make a payment and then express their remorse." What exactly am I assessing for? And people wonder why we don't have debtor's prisons. Lumped together are a large number of costs: for example, paying for the cost of incarceration, GPS, and monitoring. . Feierman shared that E.B. For wealthy people, they can express it and pay it, right? Share this via Facebook For example, Abraham Holmes argued that Congress might repeat the abuses of that diabolical institution, the Inquisition, and start imposing torture on those convicted of federal crimes: They are nowhere restrained from inventing the most cruel and unheard-of punishments, and annexing them to crimes; and there is no constitutional check on them, but that racks and gibbets may be amongst the most mild instruments of their discipline. Patrick Henry asserted, even more pointedly than Holmes, that the lack of a prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments meant that Congress could use punishment as a tool of oppression: Congress . If a once-traditional punishment falls out of usage for several generations, it becomes unusual. You have to pay to apply to have a public defender. This essay concerns the original meaning of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause. He is scheduled to present his findings to the UN . In some instances, what would happen if somebody said, "Well, I'm on food stamps now," and courts would say, "All right, but you could get a job tomorrow, so therefore I'm not finding you indigent." The framers of the American Constitution should be celebrated for creating a prohibition on punishments which are cruel and unusual; but it is incumbent on all of us to insist on a Court that applies the prohibition fairly, sensibly and justly for an evolving nation. . No, and it's not always because it's out of being stubborn or willful, but out of the facts and circumstances of their case: the long term mental health issues that they have, the substance abuse issues that they're struggling with and trying to deal with, the fact that they're homeless and they have no place to live or struggling to figure out when their next meal is. In either case, and times when people come to courtand I've seen this in the courts I've observedif they respond to that summons, they go to court and say, "I don't have money." The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution states: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. This amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing unduly harsh penalties on criminal defendants, either as the price for obtaining pretrial release or as punishment for crime after conviction. There needs to be a nexus between an assessment and its rationale. US: California Bail System Penalizes the Poor, Ukraine: Izium Apartment Victims Need Justice, Indian Girls Alleged Rape and Murder Sparks Protests, Burma: Widespread Rape of Rohingya Women, Girls, almost half a million presumptively innocent people sit in jail, Video: Violence and Rape by Zimbabwe Gov't Forces After Protests. In Ferguson, African Americans were 68 percent less likely to have their cases dismissed, more likely to have cases last longer and have more court encounters, and 50 percent more likely to have an arrest warrant issued against them. This understanding of the original meaning of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause leads to very different results than either the non-originalist approach or Justices Scalias and Thomass approach. Throughout its history, the Court has ruled that certain practices are unconstitutional or indecent even when such practices were popular. Alameda County in California found no benefit to the county of juvenile courts fees, which helped the county pass a moratorium on these fees. Then there are the fees collected at almost every step of the process. Share this via Twitter Former federal public defender Alexandra Natapoff says 13 million misdemeanors are filed each year in the U.S., trapping the innocent, punishing the poor and making society more unequal. Dr. Harris has identified through her research the following buckets of LFOs: Fines related to the offense. And so I'm hoping this can help us create more momentum to talk about these key issues, and thinking through how, if we really want to be a just society like we claim we are, how can we hold people who violate the law accountable in a way in which they can meet that accountability, repent, and move forward with their lives to be productive and successful, happy citizens? Every weekday, get the worlds top human rights news, explored and explained by Andrew Stroehlein. The state courts denied his petition for habeas corpus. I don't think it is very profitable. 371 (2021). But I can't pay these fines and fees and interest. These practices appear to have evolved from governments desire to reduce taxation to support criminal justice in favor of increasing fines and fees for offenders. It was really nice to talk with you.WATKINS:That was Alexes Harris. Examples are drug and alcohol, general, mental health, and DNAa wide variety. You can look for results from that work, funded by Arnold Ventures, within the next year or so. JLC found that the practices were widespread. The system knowsthey." told the JLC: My mind was set to where I was just like forget it, I might as well just go ahead and do the time because I aint got no money and I know the [financial] situation my mom is in. Fines are intended to deter crime, punish offenders, and compensate victims for losses. If the federal government tried to bring back the rack, or thumbscrews, or gibbets as instruments of punishment, such efforts would pretty clearly violate the Eighth Amendment. Sanctions include a warrant, time in jail, and the like. Dollar Tree . Some of the devastating consequences include loss of jobs, disruption of child care, inability to pay rent, and deeper destitution, Alston said. I need to make sure that I get paid. The best way to understand this is to run through those four questions once again, using our new understanding of the original meaning of the Clause: (1) The appropriate benchmark for determining whether a punishment is cruel and unusual is neither the subjective feelings of the current Supreme Court nor the outdated standards of 1791. In other counties, anyone who owed any debt would regularly have warrants put out for their arrest, and they'd be incarcerated for up to 60 days.WATKINS:So it's not uncommon, then, for people to end up in jail for being unable to meet their debts, in this case, a debt to the court system?HARRIS:No, it's not uncommon at all. . And so even though you had clients who want to please the court and say, "I can make payments of $50 a month or $25 a month," you don't necessarily really understand in their circumstances what they're giving up in order to do that, or how long it's going to take them to actually pay off the LFOs and what implications that that may mean.WATKINS: What would you say then that you are understanding now better, and how did you come to that understanding? Do you have a sense of what the future could be for reforming this system?HARRIS:In my mind, it has to be piecemealstate by state, has to occur. Theres a link to the ability-to-pay calculator she helped design on our website. In Arizona, 10 percent of an 83 percent surcharge goes to a clean elections fund even though people with felony convictions paying this surcharge cannot vote; in Delaware, a 50 percent surcharge on fines goes to a transportation fund. Government . I believe that the question whether the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment cannot be resolved by simply asking whether a person deserves to die for the crime he has committed. WATKINS:And what did you make of this recent, unanimous Supreme Court decision holding that the Constitution's prohibition on excessive fines applied to the ability of state and local governments to levy fines and fees? I don't think I really realized the long-term impact it had on those defendants because the focus was always on avoiding jail, trying to get the charges reduced. When I did the math for her, she was stunned. There are no options for relief from restitution. Chiraag Bains explained that, shortly after Michael Brown was shot on August 19, 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) opened two investigations into the police department of Ferguson: one into Michael Browns shooting and a second one, covered in this webinar, into the practices of the police department. Deductions ordered by the court or the Department of Corrections. These fines range from an undefined amount (Delaware) to $500,000 (Kansas). Fines (44 states). E.B. They are funded by the local jurisdictions. He is in his mid-50s, has children to take care of, and is trying to find other ways to pay. Please give now to support our work. This has already occurred with respect to some once-traditional applications of the death penalty. But once we get beyond these areas of agreement, there are many areas of passionate disagreement concerning the meaning and application of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause: First and foremost, what standard should the Court use in deciding whether a punishment is unconstitutionally cruel? Penalties include point deductions of 75-120 points, deductions of 10-25 playoff points, the suspension of one or two crew members for four-to-six races and fines between $100,000 and $250,000. Fines is also part of punishments, and theoretically, it is supposed to be a punishment. If she had known that, she may have revisited what under the law she had the authority to adjust regarding discretionary LFOs, but because she wanted to have the hearing done, move on to the next hearing. For the sake of simplicity, in this article, we will use the term LFO whenever possible to refer to such fines, fees, and costs. In the wake of a constitutional amendment to provide automatic restoration, the Florida legislature proposed a new system in SB 7066, aimed at . Is it a quote from a game? So you pay $300 now, if they're picked up on a warrant, you pay $300 now, or you stay for 60 days. My own research into the original meaning of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause shows that Justice Scalias and Thomass approach has a fatal flaw: It ignores the meaning of the word unusual. Their decision to ignore this word makes sense because there seems to be no connection between a punishments rarity and its cruelty. A prosecutor told me he asks people who tell him that they can't make payments, "Do you smoke cigarettes? Examples are a discretionary $1,000 drug conviction LFO for a first conviction and $2,000 for a second conviction (Washington). Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. Vaginal Changes. In response to a growing national concern over LFO issues, the DOJ convened, on December 2, 2015, a diverse group of court administrators, judges, lawmakers, affected individuals, and others. To become a great country, America needs its laws and basic constitutional principles to evolve as our understanding of human capacity and behavior deepens. A much talked about best practice is the concept of day fines, which is like a sentencing grid, so the amount of the LFO is proportionate to the offense and what the defendant is able to pay. Most people also agree that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause now limits state power as well as federal power, because the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States and from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.. Fines and fees are capturing millions of Americans in a cycle of poverty and justice-involvement, and today well talk to two people, who are both working to lessen their impact. At that rate, the victim cannot be compensated for 25 years. Subscribe to New Thinking on Apple Podcasts, Neighbors in Action: Creating Safer and Healthier Communities, Sixth Amendment Initiative: Strengthening the Constitutional Protections of the Accused, Misdemeanors Matter #2: Alexandra Natapoff on a Legacy of Injustice (, Court Costs Entrap Nonwhite, Poor Juvenile Offenders (. The United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty, Philip Alston, highlighted the practice during a recent visit to the country. An error occurred while subscribing your email address. How can we decrease the costs? And instead of thinking outside the box and saying, Well, how can we decrease the numbers of people we're bringing in? They're saying, Well, let's just charge the people we're bringing in," without logically thinking that through, and recognizing that they have a population that is severely hindered in their ability to be successful in society. Best practices and ideas on how to change our restitution system are emerging from across the country, and they include taking into account the persons ability to pay, allowing for conversion of restitution to community service, looking to more restorative justice approaches, imposing restitution rather than other fines, imposing statutes of limitations on restitution, allowing for modification of restitution, and making it a civil collection and taking it out of the criminal and juvenile justice systems. . And fines are associated with a particular type of offense. He cites the common practice of suspending drivers licenses when people fail to pay their criminal justice debt. Many courts are struggling to interpret a 1983 Supreme Court ruling protecting defendants from going to jail because they are too poor to pay their fines. This approach begs complex questions, such as who decides what is decent and what is cruel? Link couldn't be copied to clipboard! However, he clearly outlined some of the primary problems with how restitution is currently being used: Victim compensation takes years or never happens. First, the task force identified the types of civil and criminal court assessments present in Illinois circuit courts, from filing to mandatory arbitration fees. In his report, he says that the criminal justice system is effectively a system for keeping the poor in poverty while generating revenue. He is scheduled to present his findings to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 22, 2018. Various states chargefor a public defender, for a DNA sample, for a drug test, for a diversion program, for your monthly parole meetings, even for a jury trial. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. One of the most significant of these new powers was the power to create federal crimes and to punish those who committed them. Some thought that the system was counterproductive, and they didn't want to be collection agents. We are then lost and undone. Largely as a result of these objections, the Constitution was amended to prohibit cruel and unusual punishments. The second LFO was $500 and became $1,319 before it was sent to collections in 2012. If a court were to find that their effect is significantly harsher than the longstanding punishment practices they have replaced, it could appropriately find them cruel and unusual. Expungement (13 states). "I think people are still just using a different color crayon to color within the lines, and we're not yet erasing the lines," Harris explains. Examples are a discretionary $1,000 drug conviction LFO for a first conviction and $2,000 for a second conviction (Washington). I don't know whether it's intentional or not intentional. extort confession by torture, in order to punish with still more relentless severity. Accordingly, progressives believe the Court must protect the disfavored, the unpopular, the minority groups who can expect no protection from officials elected by majority vote. The following is a transcript of the podcast: Matt WATKINS: Welcome to New Thinking from the Center for Court Innovation. Harris is gratified by the surge in attention the issue has been receiving, but worries not enough peoplewhether among legal professionals or the general publicappreciate the "layers of punishment" low-income defendants are being subjected to. So that's a whole other part of the story, is that in every way that people are being charged from being in jail for certain things, private probation, private collections, a literal captive audience has to pay to make profits for private companies.WATKINS:So in your observations, how much do you think judges actually understand about the fines and fees system? Answer (1 of 5): It depends : Does the offense and conviction carry other slightly less tangible impacts, such as a police/criminal record that must be disclosed or negative points on a license for example. She didn't take the time to do the math. Now, the misdemeanor and the traffic tickets are a different issue, because many times, those people aren't going to jail or prison and have these other punishment options. I began our interview by asking Professor Harris whether there are generalizations we can make about the kinds of people most often being subjected to fines and fees.Alexes HARRIS:Definitely. I completely agree with the sentiment but I have no clue where the quote originated from. However, other judges felt that this was part of breaking the law, that you do the time, you pay the crime, whatever it is. WATKINS:But do you think there is a proper, I guess more contained role for legal financial obligations within the system? The judge is supposed to have a hearing to determine whether or not the reason that they chose not to paythat they have the resources, but chose not to make a payment. In recent years, some judges and scholars have argued that the meaning of the Constitution should change as societal values change. In researching the penalties imposed on young people for not paying LFOs, JLC is discovering that they include civil contempt, criminal contempt, incarceration, further fines, license suspension, violations of probation, violations of informal adjustment, civil judgment, and misdemeanors. The calculator is going to remind me that if they're on state assistance, then they are by law determined to be indigent. A pivotal moment for reforming fines and fees is here. If a given punishment has been continuously used for a very long time, this is powerful evidence that multiple generations of Americans have considered it reasonable and just. The clerk still issued a warrant then for his arrest, even though he had made efforts and demonstrated inability to pay. Second, does the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause only prohibit barbaric methods of punishment, or does it also prohibit punishments that are disproportionate to the offense? She is a professor of sociology at the University of Washington and the author of the 2016 book from the Russell Sage foundation: A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor. Also letting you see what the total amount isallow you to add, for example, probation assessments and understanding what that means as far as the defendant and their ability to pay that off in a reasonable amount of time. A sentence of life imprisonment without parole may be acceptable for some crimes, but it would violate the Constitution to condemn anyone to die in prison for shoplifting or simple marijuana possession. The report from this task force, Illinois Court Assessments (June 1, 2016), covers the circuit courts but not the administrative and municipal courts. Yeah, so that runs counter to all of our notions - a lot of this runs counter to our notions of justice!WATKINS:Paying for a public defender, for example.HARRIS:Exactly. Now that you have this deeper appreciation, just how big of a role do you see fines and fees playing in the justice system as a whole?COBURN:I think it plays a huge role.

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