Cohort 2023

DC Fiscal Policy Institute

Systemically Reforming Fines and Fees and Reducing Racialized Wealth Extraction

Washington, DC

The monetary penalties and legal financial obligations associated with criminal legal system involvement—and their disproportionate effect on low-income people of color—are of increasing concern across the country. And for people with low incomes, the accumulation of fines and fees associated with infractions, traffic tickets, and convictions can initiate and perpetuate a cycle of poverty and thereby extend contact with the criminal legal system. In Washington, DC, for example, defendants who cannot afford an attorney must pay public defense fees, and the inability to pay these court-ordered fees and fines can lead to wages being garnished, to parole being extended, and even to imprisonment.

With Catalyst Grant funding, the DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) will seek to acquire previously unavailable data on fees and fines from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and other city agencies and create a data dashboard illustrating the harms fees and fines have on Black, brown, and low-income communities. DCFPI will share its data dashboard with community stakeholders and use it to lay the groundwork for a reform agenda that reduces extractive methods of revenue generation. Through this project, DCFPI will also push the government agencies responsible for enforcing and collecting fines and fees to collect data better and more transparently and to share the data for stronger evidence-based reforms.