State Laws on Economic Sanctions

• In Event: Sentencing Practices & Policies

Abstract

Less than half of convicted offenders are incarcerated in jail or prison, but all face economic sanctions of some type – fines, fees, restitution, or forfeiture – either alone or in combination. In this study, we examine state laws governing these economic sanctions. First, we describe the range of these types of sanctions across states. Second, we examine how the laws for the different economic sanctions are related to each other and to other types of criminal sanctions. Third, we use regional and state-level factors to characterize states in terms of punitiveness. Finally, we compare states’ use of economic sanctions for specific crimes.

Authors

• Jordan Zvonkovich, Pennsylvania State University

• Barry Ruback, Pennsylvania State University