The long-term impact of debt relief for indigent defendants in a misdemeanor court.

Autor:	Bing L; Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H4, Canada., Goldstein R; School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720., Ho H; Chinese for Affirmative Action, San Francisco, CA 94108., Pager D; Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138., Western B; Department of Sociology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A] 2024 Dec 17; Vol. 121 (51), pp. e2415066121. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Dec 09.
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.2415066121
Abstrakt:	US courts regularly assess fines, fees, and costs against criminal defendants. Court-related debt can cause continuing court involvement and incarceration, not because of new crimes, but because of unpaid financial obligations. We conducted an experiment with 606 people found guilty of misdemeanors in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. Study participants were randomly selected to receive relief from all current and prior fines and fees assessed for criminal charges in the county. Fee relief reduced jail bookings 21 mo after randomization and the effect persisted over 44 mo of follow-up. Although fee relief reduced incarceration, financial sanctions had no effect on indicators of lawbreaking. Instead, the control group (who obtained no relief from fines and fees) were rearrested at significantly higher rates because of open arrest warrants for nonpayment. These results indicate the long-term and criminalizing effects of legal debt, supporting claims that financial sanctions disproportionately harm low-income defendants while contributing little to public safety. Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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