New Analysis Rates States On Whether Their Court Fines And Fees Perpetuate Racism And The Results Aren’t Good

Liz Farmer | Senior Contributor

This story originally appeared on Forbes.com

A new rankings index is the first ever to rate states’ performance on fines and fees, and the results aren’t flattering. Every state received a failing score with the highest-ranking state — Washington — earning a 54 out of 100.

Rounding out the top three are Oklahoma and Rhode Island, which shows that neither political leanings nor geography is a determinant in how a state approaches what’s called “policing for profit.”

The index was released by the National Center for Access to Justice on the eve of the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, which led to a national reckoning on systemic racism. One of the chief ways it’s perpetuated is through fines and fees, said NCAJ’s Chris Albin-Lackey.

“Fines and fees are the ugly underbelly of the justice system, because state and local governments saddle the most marginalized people in our society with punishments they can’t afford,” Albin-Lackey, NCAJ legal and policy director, said in a statement. “Millions of low-income people get trapped in the justice system simply because they cannot afford fines and fees, and no U.S. state currently earns a passing grade for how it approaches this important issue.”

Fines & Fees Index State Scores and Rankings

The Fines and Fees Index measures 50 states and Washington D.C. against 17 essential practices for ... [+]

NATIONAL CENTER FOR ACCESS TO JUSTICE AT FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL

After the 2008 recession, states and localities turned more to fines and fees as a way of increasing revenue in the anti-tax environment. They increased the number and amount of fines and fees imposed on people for everything from minor traffic and municipal code violations, to misdemeanors and felonies, a move that disproportionately affected minorities. In an extreme example: After Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, an investigation revealed that Ferguson police issued 90,000 citations to the city’s 21,000 residents — for minor infractions like jaywalking or disturbing the peace. 

The new rankings index includes some surprising findings. For example, amid the outcry over Georgia’s new voting law, the NCAJ notes that heavily Democratic-leaning states make up many of the 24 that still restrict the voting rights of people who have unpaid fines and fees debt. (The practice ultimately tends to disenfranchise poor and minority voters.)

The political spectrum also varies for other categories that are considered best practices by the NCAJ:

• Only four states (Nebraska, Tennessee, Rhode Island and Virginia) allow people to enter into a payment plan to pay their fines and fees without interest.

• And just four states (Alabama, Idaho, Michigan and Virginia) don’t suspend your driver’s license for failure to pay. Suspending driver’s licenses is a practice that is often counterproductive because it can prevent people from getting to work, meaning they cannot pay their fines and fees.

In total, the NCAJ measured state performance against 17 policies the organization said it believes every state should have in place to rein in abuses. “It is rooted in several core principles,” the report said. “Fines should be proportionate both to the severity of an offense and to a person’s financial capacity; no one should be punished for “failing” to pay a fine they genuinely cannot afford; and states should abolish harmful practices including the pervasive ‘user fees’ that are wielded to extract revenue from poor litigants.”