On Cash and Conviction: Monetary Sanctions as Misguided Policy

August 2011
By Katherine Beckett, PhD and Alexes Harris, PhD in Criminology & Public Policy

This study examines trends in the use of fees and fines in the United States. The authors argue that the widespread assessment of substantial and nongraduated fees and fines is incompatible with policy efforts to enhance reintegration, lacks a convincing penological rationale, and raises numerous concerns about justice and fairness.

Key findings include: 

• Fees and fines increasingly supplement other criminal penalties and typically create substantial long-term legal debts relative to expected earnings.
• The widespread imposition of substantial fees and fines creates enduring and consequential debt, one that is clearly at odds with the goal of reintegration.
• The discretionary, varied, and arguably arbitrary assessment of fees and fines as a supplement to confinement means that the imposition and magnitude of monetary sanctions is neither swift nor certain and, therefore, is unlikely to have a deterrent effect.