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INCOME-BLIND JUSTICE >> Fines & Fees
Campaign Brief:
Ending Onerous Legal Fines and Fees
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Background
We often talk about people who have committed harm “repaying their debt to society,” but most people don’t imagine that debt to be insurmountable or the repayment terms unreachable. Yet for the thousands of Michigan families involved in the criminal legal system, criminal fines and fees often pile up, creating a mountain of debt a person is expected to pay before they can move forward with their life.
These fees and fines can take many forms. Aside from criminal penalties set by the Legislature, there are also “pay to stay” fees many people are assessed for staying in county jails, fees for staying in touch with loved ones by telephone or video call and fees for accessing health care in prison. On top of that, many families also pay fees to communicate with loved ones by phone or JPay (email), and transaction fees when contributing to their loved ones’ prisoner accounts, as people in prison have to buy many of their own personal items, such as deodorant, soap and tampons at inflated prices that include fees that go to the vendor and the prisoner benefit fund In Michigan, prisoners also pay a $5 copay to see a doctor for non-emergency medical services. Collectively, these fees are a significant burden on many justice-impacted families, as many of them struggle to make ends meet even without the added costs.
Vision
Safe & Just Michigan believes in accountability for harm, but also that the state should pay all the associated costs of incarceration for the people it sentences to prison. Shifting costs from the state to prisoners and their loved ones is regressive, unjust, and counterproductive, as it undermines the state’s own rehabilitative efforts and the prisoner’s likelihood of success upon reentry. Fines and fees that take advantage of struggling families simply target those among us who have the least. Worse, they also discourage close communication between an incarcerated person and their family — something that evidence tells us is crucial to successful re-entry and better outcomes for all of us.
We should take a critical look at the fines and fees we levy on justice-impacted families. We have already worked with the state to reduce phone fees, and we can continue this work to reduce fines and fees even more.
Solution
Lowering the fines and fees assessed to justice-involved families in Michigan will take a two-pronged approach:
- Legislative: Criminal fines and statutory fees are set by the Legislature, and any changes to those fine and fee structures would have to be approved through legislative action.
- Departmental Policy: The Michigan Department of Corrections contracts with vendors to supply services such as telephone communications and commissary supplies. As these services are contracted, changes to the pricing structure would also have to be made to these contracts as they come up for renewal. We are pursuing these options.
Working in partnership with the MDOC and with supportive lawmakers, we can reduce the pressure felt by vulnerable Michigan families to make ends meet.
