Reader Responses to Failure to Pay

A great project, but an explanation of how the 2008 law was supposed to work and why it didn’t (no lawyers/legal aid were involved?) would have been helpful.

The problem extends beyond those who have no way to pay fines or restitution. Spouses and other family members are first deprived of whatever support the defendant might otherwise provide and, second, trapped in the dilemma of either paying to keep a loved one or provider out of jail, or supplying their own or their dependent’s needs. Are there statistics on how many families are homeless because of unpaid fines and fees, or how many children don’t have dental care or adequate nutrition because one parent or grandparent is paying to either get or keep someone out of jail or prison?

In Florida, ex-incarcerated people cannot vote if they owe judiciary fees and, like in R.I., most cannot pay them. There has been a legal case challenging this loss of voting rights. There are also donors who are giving funds to pay off the fees, often on the order of a few thousand dollars.