The Financial, Emotional, and Wellbeing Costs of Fines, Fees, and Bond in New Orleans

• In Event: Bail and Criminal Justice Fines and Fees in New Orleans: The Human and Financial Impacts

Abstract

In addition to having one of the highest per capita incarceration rates in the country, the New Orleans criminal justice system has come under public scrutiny for the high court fines, fees, and bail levied against justice involved individuals. These costs are then used, in part, to fund the criminal justice system. In this study we investigate how individuals describe the burden they experienced in the face of these costs. We conducted brief semi-structured surveys with system actors (e.g. judges, prosecutors, public defenders) (n = 20) as well as structured surveys (n = 75) and in-depth case study interviews (n = 10) with individuals who experience court fines/fees or bond in New Orleans. In this presentation, we will report the findings from these interviews/surveys describing the types and amount of fines, fees, and bonds that interviewees experienced. We will also discuss the impact of these costs on the interviewee’s economic stability, stress and wellness, and on their criminal justice history, such as being re-incarcerated for failure to pay. Finally, we will describe the interviewees’ vision for a reformed system of fines, fees, and bond in New Orleans.

Author

• Ayesha Delany-Brumsey, Vera Institute of Justice