Call for a Nationwide Moratorium on Juvenile Fees and Fines (2020)

May 2020

Organizations on the Debt Free Justice Steering Committee, Berkeley Law School's Policy Advocacy Clinic, Juvenile Law Center, and National Center for Youth Law, joined more than 130 racial, economic, and criminal justice organizations across the country and political spectrum to call for a nationwide moratorium on juvenile fees and fines during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Specifically, the organizations call on states, counties, and courts to:

• Suspend assessment and collection of juvenile fees and fines.
• Suspend all attachments, garnishments, levies, liens, redirects, and tax refund intercepts for unpaid juvenile fees and fines.
• Suspend all interest accrual, financial penalties, and other legal system consequences for nonpayment or late payment of juvenile fees and fines, including enforcement of arrest warrants for failure to pay fines and fees.
• Suspend and withdraw all referrals of unpaid juvenile fine and fee accounts to state taxing and collection authorities and private collection agencies.
• Prohibit private agencies from collecting unpaid juvenile fees and fines.
• Work to make these law and policy changes permanent.