Webinar: Asset Preservation Strategies: How Fines & Fees Strip Wealth from Low Income Families

Asset Funders Network hosted a presentation with the latest research and strategies that state and local leaders can use to ensure that judicial fines and fees do not contribute to burdensome debt, housing and employment barriers, and an increase in imprisonment and recidivism for low-income communities and people of color.

New Research reveals that more than $50 billion in debt from fines and fees is currently being held by approximately 10 million people because of their involvement in the criminal justice system. Activities that trigger fines and fees range from minor offenses such as parking tickets to court fees or other fees associated with children in the juvenile justice system.

Much of this judicial debt is not collected, because low income people simply do not have the money to pay fines and fees; this, in turn, causes state and local governments to spend more on the expense of trying to collect on these fees than what they take in. This vicious cycle disproportionately impacts the most financially vulnerable people and communities and plays a role in the growing racial wealth gap in our country.