Millions of Americans who have criminal records owe money to the criminal legal system in fines and fees such as for being arrested, administrative court costs, public defender compensation, jail operating expenses, civil assessments, or parole and probation costs. Owing hundreds or thousands of dollars in fines and fees makes successful reentry more difficult.
Stephanie Jeffcoat, a community organizer with All of Us or None in Orange County, CA, incurred $4,000 in debt from her arrest and incarceration. She says: “They saw me as just another statistic that was out there and were able to bolster their incarceration rates, was able to make money off me being incarcerated.”
Learn more about how fees and fines keep formerly incarcerated people indebted, while not reducing crime, in the video below:
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