Fines and fees in Louisiana’s criminal justice system do nothing but punish the poor

Here in Louisiana, when people are charged with a traffic offense, misdemeanor or felony, they face a cascade of fines and fees (“court debt”) that are typically set without any regard to the person’s ability to pay. Black Louisianans are hit disproportionately hard.

Unaffordable fines and fees do not promote public safety. In fact, in some cases, these fines and fees do just the opposite and can cause additional harm by giving people a reason to commit new crimes to pay off their debt, which leads to unnecessary arrests, jailing and prolonged contact with the criminal justice system. To go a step further,  a study reported in “Fees, Fines, and the Funding of Public Services” by researchers at Yale, Harvard and UC Berkeley law schools revealed that municipalities that rely more on the collection of fines and fees solved violent and property crimes at significantly lower rates than others.

Fines and fees do nothing to deter individuals from committing crimes, nor do they contribute to any form of rehabilitation. They are implemented simply to punish individuals and raise money for municipal governments and private companies. Essentially, the reliance on fines and fees has created a system that profits from charging and convicting people of crimes.

What is also problematic about this system is that too often individuals are incarcerated simply because they cannot afford to pay the fines and fees assessed by the courts. No one should be forced to decide whether they are going to pay a fine for a traffic violation vs. paying the rent or other bills that are essential for even the most modest living conditions. Generally, when defendants are faced with such decisions, as they cannot do both, they are more likely to avoid their court obligations out of fear that they will be arrested and jailed. Unfortunately, when a court date is avoided, the individual usually incurs additional fines, thus increasing the financial responsibility on a debt that the person was unable to pay when it was initially assessed. These are common occurrences that only weaken the socioeconomic status of people who were already struggling to make ends meet.

With the passage of Act 260 in 2017, the Louisiana Legislature attempted to ensure that fines and fees did not become another barrier to the unfortunate people who found themselves on the wrong side of the system. However, in 2021, the act remains unenforced. The Louisiana Commission on Justice System Funding is still trying to find alternative methods to fund the court system. Meanwhile, the people of Louisiana continue to suffer, which has become increasingly more apparent during this period of high unemployment and hardship brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

A recent Institute for Justice report, “Municipal Fines and Fees: A 50-State Survey of State Laws,” using 52 legal factors, ranks states according to how likely their laws are to contribute to the abuse of municipal fines and fees. Louisiana ranks as the 15th worst state, which is why we are currently working with one of our great community partners, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, with potential legislation to address this issue. The legislation will amend current law to no longer allow individuals to be arrested, jailed or have their license suspended because they cannot pay their court debt. Furthermore, this bill will require courts to determine whether paying fines and fees in full would be a substantial hardship. If it is, the court must either waive all or part of the amount or order a payment plan or community service. (These provisions largely mirror Act 260 of 2017 and extend them to misdemeanor and traffic offenses.) Courts would also be required to create a schedule of fines for traffic violations and fine-only misdemeanors, and also create a process for all defendants to plead guilty by mail, instead of only defendants who can afford to pay all fines and fees up front. Those who cannot afford to pay can sign an affidavit of indigency and be put on a $25-a-month payment plan.

While this effort may not solve Louisiana’s predicament entirely, it is a start and has proven to be successful in other states. Under this legislation, individuals would be given options and viable means to avoid being arrested and jailed due to the lack of financial resources.

State Rep. Marcus Bryant will be spearheading this initiative in the 2021 legislative session, arguing that no one should be jailed, have their driver’s license suspended or incur additional debt simply because of an inability to pay.

Terry Landry is the SPLC Action Fund policy director in Louisiana.

Photo by AP Images/Elise Amendola