Policy Panel: The Human Cost of Legal System Fines and Fees in Jefferson County, Alabama

Session Submission Type: Policy Panel

Abstract/Description

The JEFF project is a research-practice partnership between MDRC, Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and the 10th Judicial Circuit Court in Jefferson County, Alabama. Exploratory quantitative analyses were conducted to understand the debt ecosystem and the economic and racial equity consequences of accumulated LFO debt in a sample of over 9,000 criminal cases from 2014 to 2019. Qualitative interviews and focus groups were conducted with court system actors, community-based providers, and individuals impacted by LFO debt to understand the individual and system mechanisms driving debt, as well as the short- and long-term consequences of debt for those who owe it. Our findings show that LFO debt is inequitably distributed across individuals and communities in Jefferson County, with black individuals and communities being assessed and accumulating more debt on similar cases. Our analysis also finds that fines and fees are set at levels that make debt unpayable in many cases leading to a host of collateral consequences for individuals and communities. The research team and practice partners in Jefferson County are actively engaged in using the results of this research to form strategies to mitigate the accumulation of LFO debt and its effects for individuals and communities in Alabama.

Sub Unit

• Area XX. Policy Panels

Chairs

• Rae Walker, MDRC

• Leah Nelson, Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Democracy

• Sarah Picard, MDRC Center for Criminal Justice Research