Court fees and fines can add up, and for those living on the margins the expense can stall rehabilitation and lead to years of debt.
Allegheny County is among 10 municipalities across the nation chosen this month to examine and “reform inequitable fines,” according to an announcement Tuesday from County Controller Chelsa Wagner’s office.
Ms. Wagner, along with Brad Korinski, the office’s chief legal counsel, and County Council at-large member Bethany Hallam, will lead the Allegheny County Fine and Fee Justice team as part of the inaugural participating members chosen by the Cities and Counties for Fine and Fee Justice program.
“Our county has extracted about $15 million annually from our residents in court fines and fees in recent years,” Ms. Wagner said in a news release. “New fines and fees have been tacked on over time to defray costs and fund initiatives sometimes only loosely related to the essential workings of our court system. It is clear that most of these funds come from individuals, families, and communities that can afford them least. Criminal infractions require appropriate measures be taken, but should not require years or decades of struggle to afford adequate food, housing, transportation, and health care.”
Ms. Hallam, who has been public about her past 10-year battle with substance abuse during which she had multiple run-ins with law enforcement, is advocating for reform based on her personal experience.
“I have paid tens of thousands of dollars in fines and fees, spent time on probation and in the Allegheny County Jail, and had my driver’s license suspended as a result of these convictions — which I am only this month finally able to have reinstated,” she said in a news release.
“If it weren’t for the consistent and substantial financial support of my family, those fines and fees assessed as a part of my convictions would likely remain unpaid, and my future would have been severely hampered: no license, limited job opportunities, the possibility of an endless probationary term,” she continued. “This is unjust. Our neighbors who do not have the same access to financial resources should not be made to shoulder the burden of an overly extractive criminal legal system.”
The designation comes with a $50,000 grant and access to policy, research and data experts along with membership in a cohort of other teams “to develop customized solutions to fine and fee reform with community input,” according to the announcement.
The county will be among Chicago; Dallas; Durham, N.C.; Philadelphia; Providence, R.I.; Sacramento, Calif.; Seattle/King County, Wash.; Shelby County, Tenn.; and St. Paul, Minn.
The Cities and Counties for Fine and Fee Justice program is facilitated by Oakland, Calif.-based PolicyLink, an advocacy group focused on racial and economic equity; the San Francisco-based Financial Justice Project; and the New York City-based Fines and Fees Justice Center.
First Published: May 27, 2020, 7:33 p.m.
