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Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School
50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of
significant legal complexity.


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 * Home
 * National Comparison
 * State Analysis
 * Law Explorer
 * Reform Builder
 * Definitions / Methodology
 * Contact Us


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OVERVIEW

Criminal justice debt – the system of fees and fines in the criminal justice
system – has serious consequences. The Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder
brings transparency to this area of significant legal complexity: it gives
easier access to state laws that govern criminal justice debt and suggests
policy solutions through the Criminal Justice Policy Program’s Confronting
Criminal Justice Debt: A Guide for Policy Reform.

The Reform Builder and Policy Guide are organized into the following reform
areas:

ABILITY TO PAY

Individuals face dozens of fees and surcharges on top of high fine amounts, much
of which is often imposed without regard for an individual’s ability to pay.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The negative impact of criminal justice debt is community wide: jurisdictions
rely on fees and fines to fund basic operations, distorting the administration
of justice and eroding trust. Racial disparities permeate the system.

POVERTY PENALTIES AND POVERTY TRAPS

Financial obligations are structured in a way that impose the harshest effects
on the poorest defendants, leading to vicious cycles of ballooning debt, loss of
driver’s licenses, jail time, and other harms for non-payment of that debt.

TRANSPARENCY

Additional data collection, analysis, and reporting of system-wide practices
will shine light on these practices.

 


KEY FEATURES OF THE REFORM BUILDER

NATIONAL COMPARISON

Hover over a state on the map to see key criminal justice debt metrics.
Currently the map is color-coded by the number of fees and surcharges. Click to
navigate to a state summary page with additional statistics, queries into the
full law database, and details about our methodology.

STATE ANALYSIS

Knowing where to begin can be overwhelming: each state has dozens – if not
hundreds – of relevant laws governing criminal justice debt. The cards below
provide state-specific facts about the operation of criminal justice debt and a
number of suggested queries into the Law Explorer so that you may begin to
research.

LAW EXPLORER

Search across all of the laws in the states, or through topic-specific tabs.

REFORM BUILDER

A shareable space for users to collect, analyze, and compare laws, and to
consider policy alternatives.

 


FEATURED BOARDS


DEMO: ABILITY TO PAY LANGUAGE COMPARISON

I'm looking for model ability to pay language. -Montana's provision seems to
apply before imposition. -Michigan and Colorado have a useful list of factors.
-Process in Idaho streamlined. -Wisconsin has language on presumptions, e.g.
receipt of means tested benefits.

Privacy
Public (URL may be shared so others can view)
Created
11/04/2017
Updated
25/05/2017
Go to this dashboard


DEMO: ARIZONA FEES AND SURCHARGES

Research to figure out penalty on first time driving under the influence charge
in Arizona.

Privacy
Public (URL may be shared so others can view)
Created
11/04/2017
Updated
25/05/2017
Go to this dashboard

The Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder is a project of the National Criminal
Justice Debt Initiative of the Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law
School in collaboration with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at
Harvard University and with user experience design by metaLAB (at) Harvard.

The Criminal Justice Policy Program (CJPP) at Harvard Law School conducts
research and advocacy to support criminal justice reform. It generates legal and
policy analysis designed to serve advocates and policymakers throughout the
country, convenes diverse stakeholders to diagnose problems and chart concrete
reforms, and collaborates with government agencies to pilot and implement policy
initiatives.

CJPP’s National Criminal Justice Debt Initiative aims to help bring about major
reforms in the way that jurisdictions around the country impose and collect fees
and fines in the criminal justice system.

For more information, please visit cjpp.law.harvard.edu.

Thanks to Ted Grajeda from the Noun Project for the icons.