Criminalizing Poverty — Social and Economic Issues — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Social and Economic Issues

Overcriminalization significantly undermines human flourishing and social well-being by harming the family, social networks, and social citizenship. Additionally, it prevents capable men and women from utilizing their creative capacities in the marketplace. This creates vast issues involving relations with family while incarcerated and reintegration into society after release. On the economic side, draconian cash bail systems undermine justice through basing someone's ability to attain pre-trial release upon their wealth, not their actual threat to society.

Posts in Criminalizing Poverty

How Far Can Cities Go to Police the Homeless? Boise Tests the Limit

“The suit arose when a half-dozen homeless people claimed that local rules prohibiting camping on public property violated the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The plaintiffs prevailed at the appellate level last year, putting the city at the center of a national debate on how to tackle homelessness. Now Boise — after hiring a powerhouse legal team that includes Theodore B. Olson and Theane Evangelis of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher — has asked the Supreme Court to take the case, a decision that could come within days.“

New York Times

December 3, 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesDecember 3, 2019New York Times, Boise, IdahoComment

New York State Judges Are Jailing People Who Can't Afford Their Fines

“The Fund for Modern Courts, a nonprofit advocate for reform and improvement in New York’s court system, charges in an April report that the state’s justice courts aren’t considering defendants’ ability to pay fines before jailing them for nonpayment. The report, “Fines and Fees and Jail Time in New York Town and Village Justice Courts: The Unseen Violation of Constitutional and State Law,” concludes that state law needs to be amended so that all courts consider ability to pay when a fine is imposed and again before jailing people for nonpayment.“

The Appeal

October 28, 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesOctober 28, 2019The Appeal, New YorkComment

'It's not America': 11 million go without a license because of unpaid fines

“Holland wishes it wasn’t like this. He also wishes he could have kept his job as a plumber, where he was making $16 an hour rather than the $11 an hour he makes at Denny’s. That would have required him to drive to jobs, but his driver’s license is suspended because of unpaid fines and fees stemming from multiple traffic and criminal violations. He is one of millions of people across the country whose license has been suspended as a result of unpaid court fines and fees.“

ABC News

October 25, 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesOctober 25, 2019ABC NewsComment

New York City's Homeless Diversion Program is 'Smoke and Mirrors' Reform, Advocates Say

“If the goal is to help homeless people, ‘you try to earn somebody’s trust and offer them services that they need,’ Goldfein said. ‘You don’t start off by giving them a summons and then say to them ‘but I’ll remove this threat hanging over your head if you come in and accept services.’ That’s coercive. No one’s going to do it’.“

The Appeal

July 26, 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesJuly 26, 2019The Appeal, New York CityComment

One-quarter of state prison admissions are for minor parole and probation violations, report finds

“In at least five states — Utah, Kansas, South Dakota, Kentucky and Missouri — such technical violations account for more than half of all prison admissions. Such numbers underscore the extent to which the nation’s sky-high incarceration rate is partly a function of probation and parole policies.“

Washington Post

June 20, 2019

Criminalizing Poverty, Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJune 20, 2019Washington PostComment

Homeless people need more help, not stays in jail: AMA

“Laws criminalizing homelessness, or laws prohibiting life-sustaining activities in public spaces when there are no sheltered alternatives, have increased in U.S. cities over the past decade. These laws trap vulnerable populations in the criminal justice system and raise both human rights and constitutional concerns.“

American Medical Association

June 12, 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesJune 12, 2019American Medical AssociationComment

Why haven’t presidential candidates proposed to end the criminalization of poverty?

“These candidates are missing an opportunity. The incomes of people in U.S. prisons and local jails are overwhelmingly low, and one in two American adults has had a close relative incarcerated, meaning that a candidate who understands the criminalization of poverty could propose transformative reforms and speak to a huge number of voting-age Americans. In particular, candidates are missing an opportunity to speak to Black voters, who are hit hardest by policies that punish poor people. “

Prison Policy Institute

June 12, 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesJune 12, 2019Prison Policy InitiativeComment

California court ruling could change the culture of fining defendants who can’t pay

“The ruling by the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, in a case called People vs. Dueñas, is rippling through the state. Defense attorneys are holding up the case in arguments for their low-income clients, while lawmakers are looking to enshrine its legal underpinning — that imposing fines without considering defendants’ ability to pay tends to punish them for being poor — into state law. “

San Francisco Chronicle

April 22. 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesApril 22, 2019San Francisco Chronicle, CaliforniaComment

The Desperado

“In April 2018, a blind man with one foot robbed a bank in Austin, Texas. This is a heist story—but unlike any you’ve ever read. “

The Atavist Magazine

February 1, 2019

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesFebruary 1, 2019The Atavist Magazine, TexasComment

How Cities Make Money by Fining the Poor

“The jailing of poor defendants who cannot pay fines — a particularly insidious version of this revenue machine — has been ruled unconstitutional since a trio of Supreme Court cases spanning the 1970s and early 1980s. The first, Williams v. Illinois, involved a petty thief who was forced to remain in prison to pay off a fine, even after he had served his term. The second, Tate v. Short, hinged on a man in Texas named Preston Tate, who was assessed $425 in fines for several traffic violations.“

New York Times

January 8, 2019

Criminalizing Poverty, Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJanuary 8, 2019New York Times, Corinth, MississippiComment

How Georgia’s Probation System Squeezes the Poor and Feeds Mass Incarceration

“There are thousands of people on probation in Georgia facing similarly grim prospects. It is true that probation is typically preferable to imprisonment. However, people convicted of felonies spend, on average, over six years on probation in Georgia. The lengthy supervision terms contribute to high rates of recidivism, given the risk of a simple mistake during this time, like a failed drug test, new offense, or the inability to pay fees and fines that are a condition of probation. A Pew study found that probation revocations accounted for 55 percent of all prison admissions in Georgia.“

ACLU

November 13, 2018

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesNovember 13, 2018ACLU, GeorgiaComment

When Cities Rely on Fines and Fees, Everybody Loses

“This potential for injustice is one reason why states and cities should be weaning themselves from fines and fees. Another is that these revenue boosters carry economic costs that far outweigh the short-term revenue gains.“

September 25, 2018

Governing Institute

Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesSeptember 25, 2018Governing InstituteComment

It’s cruel and unusual for Boise to ban sleeping on the streets, appeals court rules

"Cities can’t prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they have nowhere else to go because it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court said Tuesday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with six homeless people from Boise, who sued the city in 2009 over a local ordinance that banned sleeping in public spaces. The ruling could affect several other cities across the U.S. West that have similar laws."

Idaho Statesman

September 4, 2018

Overcriminalization, Criminalizing PovertyPhillip ReevesSeptember 5, 2018Idaho Statesman, Boise

Criminal justice system fees for 21,000 waived

"The point is to lift the financial burden from people leaving the criminal justice system, many of whom have low incomes and can’t afford the fees. While not punitive, the fees were intended to cover the costs of criminal justice programs. But the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector found that more than 80 percent of the bills went unpaid, so the city received minimal benefit. San Francisco was the first city and county in the country to waive such fees."

San Francisco Chronicle

August 23, 2018

Criminalizing Poverty, Economic IssuesAnthony BradleyAugust 24, 2018San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco

To End Criminalization of Poverty, NJ Cannot Stop with Bail Reform

"But the State’s work is not done to eliminate the criminalization of poverty in New Jersey. Continuing its leadership on this issue, New Jersey should now turn to reforming the laws that impose a cascade of court fines and permit the suspension of hundreds of thousands of driver’s licenses each year simply because of residents’ inability to pay justice-related debt."

New Jersey Law Journal

August 9, 2018

Criminalizing PovertyAnthony BradleyAugust 10, 2018New Jersey Law Journal, New Jersey

Federal judge: Orleans criminal court can't jail anyone for failing to pay fines or fees without 'neutral' hearing

"Barring an appeal, the ruling from U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance marks the end of a three-year legal battle over the so-called "debtors' prison" lawsuit brought by a handful of criminal convicts who were jailed for days or longer in Orleans Parish without a chance to prove they couldn't afford to pay the fines and fees they owed. "

The Advocate

August 3, 2018

Criminalizing PovertyAnthony BradleyAugust 6, 2018The Advocate, Louisiana

Pa., N.J. suspend tens of thousands of driver's licenses a year for not paying court costs. Is that constitutional?

"Bailey is one of a number of local judges in Pennsylvania who are increasingly alarmed by what they consider a system that criminalizes poverty. 'I see people can’t pay fines, it makes me wonder: Can they afford to feed themselves?' Bailey said."

Philadelphia Inquirer

July 30, 2018

Criminalizing PovertyAnthony BradleyJuly 31, 2018Philadelphia Inquirer, New Jersey, Pennsylvania

The Dickensian Return of Debtors’ Prisons

"The Marshall Project’s Eli Hager says debtors’ prisons are “any prison, jail, or other detention facility in which people are incarcerated for their inability, refusal, or failure to pay debt.” They’ve been outlawed by Congress since 1833 (Dickensian times), at least in theory. In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled in Bearden v. Georgia that judges must first consider whether a suspect is “willfully” refusing to pay a fee before locking him or her up for failure to pay. Still, modern judges routinely sentence poor Americans to jail for not paying fines or fees."

The American Conservative

July 19, 2018

Criminalizing Poverty, Bail ReformAnthony BradleyJuly 31, 2018American Conservative, Debtor's Prison

How Fines and Fees Criminalize Poverty: Explained

"To raise revenue and make up for budget shortfalls, cities, states, courts, and prosecutors levy hefty fines at nearly every stage of the criminal justice system. People leaving prison owe on average $13,607 in fines and fees. For those who are poor, these fees can be catastrophic. An inability to pay can lead to a suspended license, additional fees, and even jail. In this Explainer, we explore all the ways the poor are regressively taxed in the justice system, and what can be done to stop these practices."

The Appeal

July 16, 2018

Criminalizing Poverty, OvercriminalizationAnthony BradleyJuly 31, 2018The Appeal

Too poor to vote: How Alabama's 'new poll tax' bars thousands of people from voting

"The right to vote should never be tied to the level of one's debt. It's a moral issue and if you want people to come back and transition back into society, one of the fundamental tenets of society is the right to be able to vote."

Birmingham News

October 4, 2017

Criminalizing PovertyAnthony BradleyJuly 30, 2018Birmingham News, Right to Vote