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Fines and Fees Destroy the Impoverished and Perpetuate Mass Incarceration
by Douglas Ankney
“I was young. I couldn’t pay for my ankle monitor. I went to jail because I couldn’t pay for my ankle monitor. And then they let me back out again on my ankle monitor that I couldn’t pay for.”—Dante Bristow, 23, who was arrested in Kansas at ...
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More from this issue:
- Fines and Fees Destroy the Impoverished and Perpetuate Mass Incarceration, by Douglas Ankney
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Eighth Circuit: Evidentiary Admissibility Is a “Red Herring” At Class Certification of St. Louis Jail Conditions Challenge, by Douglas Ankney
- After Florida Appellate Court Holds Crimes of ‘Attempt’ Eligible for Incentive Gain Time, Supreme Court Refuses Review, by Kevin Bliss
- Senate Votes to Increase Penalties for BOP Contraband Cellphone Smuggling
- Hep-C Treatment Needed in Los Angeles County Jails to Save Lives and Money
- With Eleventh Circuit Okay, Alabama Executes Third Prisoner by Nitrogen Hypoxia
- Washington Prisoners Prep for Firefighting Career After Release
- Pennsylvania Prisoner Released from Solitary After 15 Years
- Suits Filed Over Dehydration Deaths at Two Texas Jails, by Matthew Clarke
- Biden Commutes Sentences of Most Federal Prisoners on Death Row
- Blood in the Water Author Wins Censorship Challenges Against Illinois, New York Prison Systems, by Douglas Ankney
- Video of Autistic Ohio Teen’s Jail Death Undercuts Sheriff’s Report Calling It Suicide
- Two-Week Lockdown at BOP Women’s Prison in Minnesota After Nine Overdoses, Two Deaths
- Six Set Themselves on Fire at Virginia Prison in 2024
- Fifth Circuit Leaves Louisiana Prisoner Waiting for Reinstated Parole, by Douglas Ankney
- Maryland Cancels Debt Owed by 6,715 Parolees
- Nebraska Pioneers Diversion Program to Help Arrested Veterans Avoid Jail
- California Prisoner Awarded Over $1.26 Million in Suit Challenging Withheld Legal Mail Which Resulted in Habeas Loss, by David Reutter
- Texas Executioners Playing Fast and Furious to Obtain Lethal Drugs
- Ninth Circuit Greenlights Muslim Hawaii Prisoner’s Challenge to Early-Served Ramadan Meals, by Douglas Ankney
- Details Vague on Spending from San Diego Jail Detainee Welfare Fund
- Lawsuit Over Death or Severe Injury of 29 Houston Jail Detainees Survives Motion to Dismiss, by Matthew Clarke
- Mentally Incompetent Maine Defendants Sent to South Carolina Wellpath Lockup Called “Essentially Prison”
- Muslim New York Prisoner’s Free Exercise of Religion Claim Reinstated, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin DOC Under Fire for Hiring Censured Doctors
- $400,000 Jury Verdict for Medical Neglect Resulting in Amputation of Alabama Prisoner’s Toes
- Minnesota Prisoners Getting Scanned Mail, Kept Waiting 18 Months for Tablets
- Wellpath Declares Bankruptcy
- Fourth Circuit Revives West Virginia Prisoner’s RLUIPA Claim Over Religious Diet with Soy He Can’t Digest
- No Charges in Alabama Prisoner’s Torture, Rape and Murder
- Guard Pleads Guilty to Using Excessive Force at Indiana Jail Sued Nine Times in Two Years
- Pigeonly Flies Into Telecom Turbulence, Declares Bankruptcy
- BOP Prisoners in Alabama Strike to Protest Release Date Confusion
- Pennsylvania Jail Guards Accused of Ripping Surgical Pin from Detainee’s Shoulder
- Tenth Circuit Affirms PTS Driver’s Conviction for Torturous Detainee Transport
- Illinois Sheriff Resigns After Deputy Fatally Shoots 911 Caller
- Arizona DCRR Ordered to Fill Prison Medical Staff Vacancies—Again, by Matthew Clarke
- Four-Month Wait for 40 Percent of South Carolina Jail Detainees Needing Psychiatric Evaluation
- Oregon Supreme Court: Governor Can’t Revoke Commutation After Sentence Expires
- Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Missouri Guards in Transgender Prisoner’s Suit Alleging Retaliation and Unreasonable Search, by Douglas Ankney
- 150 People Sue Over Past Abuse at New York City Juvenile Facilities
- Former Tacoma Reentry Center Severs Washington DOC Contract
- $1.5 Million Settlement Reached for Oregon Prisoner’s Untreated Traumatic Brain Injury
- Fourth Circuit: Baltimore County Prisoners May Qualify as Employees under FLSA, by David Reutter
- Childhood Trauma Incidence Higher Among Those Incarcerated, by Anthony Accurso
- Nearly $12 Million Paid to Mentally Disabled Indiana Prisoner Wrongly Convicted of Murder, by Douglas Ankney
- “Locked In, Priced Out”: Markups and Kickbacks in Prison Commissaries
- With HRDC Amicus Brief, Survivor of Dead Washington Prisoner Wins Public Records Case, by Sam Rutherford
- Former Kentucky Sheriff Indicted for Murdering Judge in Chambers
- Michigan Supreme Court Greenlights Adding Restitution At Resentencing of Former Juveniles Sentenced to LWOP
- South Dakota DOC Locks Down Third Prison in 2024
- Second Rapper Stabbed in Atlanta Jail During Record-Long Trial
- New York City Held in Contempt in Long-Running Rikers Island Class-Action
- Lawsuits by Michigan Prisoner Yield $57,750 in Settlements, Plus Policy Changes
- Top Doc Sacked from Maryland Psych Hospital with “Climate of Chaos”
- 1994 Crime Bill Turns 30: A Legacy of Controversy
- Colorado Legislature’s New Jail Oversight Committee Not Weighted in Detainees’ Favor
- Securus/JPay Video Calling Service Potentially Threatened by New Rate Caps
- First Circuit Rejects Request by Securus and Pay Tel to Stay FCC Prison Phone Rate Caps
- Georgia Prisoner Accused of Running $3.5 Million “Protection” Racket
- GOP Michigan County Commissioner Re-elected— and Headed to Federal Prison
- Push to Digitize Rikers Island Mail Based on Faulty Drug Tests
- “Whoppergate” Embroils Georgia Sheriff
- News in Brief
- Turn Key Health Walks Away From Oklahoma County Jail
More from Douglas Ankney:
- $1.2 Million in Settlements Reached in Suit Over Sacramento Jail Murder, May 1, 2025
- Missouri Pays More Than $1.2 Million for Deputy Warden’s Sexual Harassment Claim Against Warden, May 1, 2025
- Beyond a Reasonable Doubt? Fingerprint Evidence’s Troubling Flaws, April 15, 2025
- Connecticut Supreme Court Announces Teague’s ‘Watershed’ Rule Exception to Nonretroactivity of New Constitutional Rule of Criminal Procedure on Collateral Review Has ‘Continued Vitality’ in Connecticut, Adoption of Third Exception to Teague’s Nonretroacti, April 15, 2025
- Fourth Circuit: District Court Erred in Imposing ‘Managerial Role’ Enhancement Under Guidelines § 3B1.1(b) Without Making ‘Particularized Findings’ Regarding Scope of Criminal Activity and Number of Participants as Required by Guidelines §1B1.1, April 15, 2025
- Tenth Circuit Stretches PLRA to Deny Claim of Colorado Prisoner Shot by Guard While Shackled, April 1, 2025
- Fourth Circuit Excuses Maryland Prisoner From Exhaustion Requirement in PREA Claim, April 1, 2025
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces State Wiretap Statute Requires Suppression of Both Audio and Video Components of Audiovisual Footage of Unlawfully Intercepted Oral Communication Showing Defendant as Party to Communication, March 15, 2025
- California Court of Appeal Vacates Sentence Where Trial Court Imposed Sentence Under ‘One Strike’ Enhancement Statute Enacted After Crimes Were Committed, March 15, 2025
- Nevada Supreme Court: Theft Offenses and Possessing or Receiving Stolen Property Offenses Are Mutually Exclusive and Double Jeopardy Protections Bar Conviction for Both Offenses When Based on Same Conduct, March 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- Multitudes Caged for Failure to Pay Child Support, Driving Mass Incarceration, May 1, 2025. Child Support, Failure To Pay, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- Mass Incarceration Weakens All Workers, May 1, 2025. Effects of Mass Incarceration, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
- Community Supervision: America’s Hidden Wellspring to Mass Incarceration, Feb. 15, 2025. Lifetime Supervision, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- Among World Nations, Individual U.S. States Near Top of List for Per Capita Incarceration, Feb. 15, 2025. Statistics/Trends, Prisoners-International, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- 1994 Crime Bill Turns 30: A Legacy of Controversy, Jan. 15, 2025. Crime, Statistics/Trends, Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- PPI Releases 10th Anniversary Report on Mass Incarceration in the U.S., Nov. 15, 2024. Prison Reform, Criminal justice system reform, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- Building Carcerality, Nov. 15, 2024. Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- CoreCivic’s Successful Campaign for Mass Incarceration Continues in Tennessee, Sept. 15, 2024. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Cost of Prison Systems, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- Criminalizing Poverty Drives Mass Incarceration in Kentucky, Washington, Aug. 15, 2024. Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Socio-Economic Status, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- Demonstrable Remorse, Psychiatric Diagnoses, and Alternatives to Incarceration, Aug. 1, 2024. Alternative Sentencing, Mental Health, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Effects of Mass Incarceration.