A thumbs-up for CA: How scrapping probation fees is likely benefiting low-income residents
Caspar Luyken: General Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg escapes from prison via a rope loader, 1638. Public Domain
Beginning in 2021, AB 1869 prohibits Golden State counties from attaching client fees to probation services like supervision. The Prison Policy Initiative affirms that probation fees inordinately hurt low-income individuals, and discarding burdensome charges prevents residents from being inaptly incarcerated when they can't scrounge up enough dough.
Over 3.6 million people are under probation supervision in the U.S., and in most states, they are charged a monthly probation fee. The problem? Many of them are among the nation’s poorest, and they can’t afford these fees. From our previous research in Massachusetts – and from reports from around the country – we know that the burden of probation fees often falls disproportionately on the poor. To determine the extent of the problem nationally, we examined the incomes of people on probation in a recent survey, the National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Our analysis confirms that, nationwide, people on probation are much more likely than people not on probation to have low incomes....
Key findings from our analysis include:
Nationwide, two-thirds (66%) of people on probation make less than $20,000 per year.
Nearly 2 in 5 people on probation (38%) make less than $10,000 per year, well below the poverty line.
On the wealthier end of the spectrum, few people (9%) on probation have annual incomes of $50,000 or more, while more than a quarter (28%) of those not on probation make at least $50,000 per year.
Monthly probation fees may be just one of several fees that someone on probation has to pay regularly. As part of the conditions of their probation, an individual might have to pay court costs, one-time fees, monthly supervision fees, electronic monitoring costs, or any combination of these charges. Sometimes the law strictly defines the cost of these fees, and sometimes “reasonableness” is the only statutory guideline. Depending on the state, courts, departments of corrections, sheriffs’ departments, and the probation programs themselves can all collect revenue from these fees....
Such high fees – and high stakes – defeat the purpose of probation. In theory, probation (often touted as an “alternative” to incarceration) allows people to continue to work and manage family responsibilities while under supervision. But people faced with unaffordable fees are more likely to violate the conditions of supervision, experience housing and food instability, and struggle to support their children. And when failure to pay is treated as a violation of probation, individuals can be incarcerated, have their probation extended, and/or lose public benefits like food stamps and supplemental security income.
This article originally appeared in the Prison Policy Initiative. Read the whole thing here.
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