We do a lot to help out: Family members role in the payment of monetary sanctions

• In Event: Beyond the Debt: Qualitative Insights into Legal Financial Burdens and the Ongoing Quest for Reform

Abstract

Monetary sanctions are common in the United States. Individuals on community supervision are regularly ordered economic sanctions as part of their conditions for supervision. Because these sanctions can be costly and individuals on supervision often have limited incomes and are balancing their other financial obligations, it may fall on family members or others to assist individuals in paying their monetary sanctions. As a result, the punitive carcel controls often trickle down to affect entire families, not just the individuals on community supervision. Using qualitative interviews with family members and intimate partners, I will present findings on how this sample aids individuals on community supervision in paying for monetary sanctions and the burdens that this support causes them. Study implications focus on reforming the system of economic sanctions to limit the harms caused by individuals on community supervision and their family members.

Author

• Ebony Ruhland, Rutgers University-Newark