Criminal Justice Debt During the Prisoner Reintegration Process: Who Has It and How Much?

Abstract

Much recent, national attention has centered on financial sanctions and associated debt burdens related to criminal justice. Scholars and practitioners alike have argued that financial debt among the incarcerated, in particular, exacerbates a transition home already defined by difficulties. This article takes a step back and assesses who is at risk of these adverse consequences in reentry by examining the extent of debt burdens that resulted from financial sanctions, its sources, and the individual-level factors that are associated with owing criminal justice debt. Relying on the Returning Home data (N = 740), results from descriptive analyses, logistic regression, and negative binomial models show that a large proportion of respondents owed debts and that debt was strongly linked with being mandated to community supervision. In addition, debt amount was predicted by employment, income, and race. Policy implications in the realm of financial sanctioning by courts and correctional agencies are discussed.

Consequences of mental and physical health for reentry and recidivism: Toward a health‐based model of desistance*

“…Prison administration could also consider measures that reduce barriers to medical treatment. For example, it has become typical for many criminal justice‐related fees and costs to be shifted to defendants or prisoners (Harris, ; Link, ), and this includes medical co‐payments for treatment (Bannon, Nagrecha, & Diller, ). Although a co‐pay may be affordable for those outside the walls, it may prevent access to treatment among the incarcerated who may make far less than minimum wage.…”

“…Economic hardship, on the other hand, is a well‐documented source of strain that can increase the likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior to achieve economic goals (Agnew, ; Stogner & Gibson, ) or of coping in a violent manner as a result of the frustration with living in deprivation. The strain associated with financial difficulty has led to a growth in research aimed at examining the prevalence of financial sanctions, debt, and mounting economic hardship among former prisoners (Link, ; Link & Roman, ; Martin, Sykes, Shannon, Edwards, & Harris, ; Roman & Link, ). In light of the financial difficulties faced, unemployment and an increase in economic hardship are both expected to increase the probability of reoffending after release from prison…”

Debt, Incarceration, and Re-entry: a Scoping Review

“…Studies of all types found that between 50 and 90% of people with LFOs are in arrears (Arditti & Few, 2006 ; Diller, Greene, & Jacob, 2009 ; Harris et al, 2010 ; Link, 2019 ; Nagrecha, Katzenstein, & Davis, 2015 ; Pleggenkuhle, 2018 ), other than one mixed methods study which found that only 20% have LFO and/or child support debt (La Vigne, Visher, & Castro, 2004 ). African-Americans are more likely to owe LFO debt (Link, 2019 ). LFO debt is most often reported as arising from post-release supervision fees including half-way housing rent (Diller et al, 2009 ; Johnson, 2015 ; Link, 2019 ; Ortiz & Jackey, 2019 ).…”

“…African-Americans are more likely to owe LFO debt (Link, 2019 ). LFO debt is most often reported as arising from post-release supervision fees including half-way housing rent (Diller et al, 2009 ; Johnson, 2015 ; Link, 2019 ; Ortiz & Jackey, 2019 ). LFO debts can cause long term debt and damaged credit (Harris et al, 2010 ; Pleggenkuhle, 2018 ), with one study reporting 75% sent to collections; African-Americans are more likely to have their debt sent to collections (Diller et al, 2009 ).…”

“…Cash bail and LFOs should be eliminated or sliding scale approaches to assessing fines and fees implemented (ACLU, 2013;Diller et al, 2009;Harris, 2016;Link, 2019;Mogk et al, 2019;Pogrebin et al, 2014;Stevenson, 2018), and in-prison medical costs eliminated (Haney, 2018). For example, in California, after the publication of a 2017 report on fee practices in juvenile courts all juvenile fees were abolished (Campos-Bui, Selbin, Jaka, Kline, & Phillips, 2017).…”