Prisoners of Debt: Costs and Consequences of Civil Penalties and Routine Criminal Procedures

Walker Room, Dean Rusk Hall

This panel will consider the costs incurred by people when their lives become entwined with law enforcement, the collateral consequences of criminal sentences, and civil penalties. From the fees associated with probation, to the costs that a person incurs when they are arrested for a failure to appear in court, to the consequences of being jailed when bail exceeds a person's means, are the punitive consequences proportionate to the offense? This panel discussed the costs incurred by citizens who become trapped in a cycle of debt and imprisonment and the options for alleviating undue collateral consequences.