Fees for Criminal Offenders Create a Vicious Cycle

RYAN INZANA

Paying a debt to society now means more than doing time. In addition to prison sentences or alternatives to incarceration such as drug programs, fees and surcharges are being imposed on criminal offenders throughout the country. In some states, offender-based revenues start to accumulate upon arrest, without a wait for conviction. These charges are in addition to any fines and restitution they may be required to pay.

Surcharges and fees are mandatory in all New York criminal cases. A felony conviction for drugs, larceny or burglary, for example, costs the defendant a statutory $300 fee plus $25 to a victims' fund. Judges have no discretion to waive them despite the defendant's likely indigence. As New York State Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach says, "The imposition of mandatory surcharges, like mandatory sentencing, erodes judicial independence by tying the judges' hands even when they think that justice requires a different result."

"It is fiscal gimmickry used to close budget gaps," says Brooklyn Assembly member Hakeem Jeffries. "No one thinks it's anything but a barrier to successful re-entry into society, because people with low or no income will owe significant amounts of money." Alan Rosenthal, director of justice strategies for the Center for Community Alternatives, adds, "It is not a public safety issue, and there are almost no proponents of these financial consequences for any reason other than the revenue streams."

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