Debt Free Justice California’s agenda is critical to our state’s efforts to advance racial justice and help families in poverty. Yes, we need to put money in people’s pockets through the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. But we shoot ourselves in the foot if we then pick the same pockets through sky-high court fees.
The true cost of these fees is not just financial. These fees have real, human consequences for justice-involved people, like Fatemah, Stephanie, and many others who came forward to share their experiences to propel these reforms.
While AB 177 brings meaningful relief to struggling Californians, too many criminal administrative fees remain. Fees like the $300 civil assessment, which is charged to people who cannot pay their fines and fees on time or miss their court date, only serve to push people into debt. In San Francisco, approximately one-third of people who got traffic tickets earlier this year were hit with civil assessment fees. But only 13 percent of these fees are collected on average. We look forward to continue working with Debt Free Justice California to provide further relief from the criminal administrative fees that remain.
Thank you to everyone in Debt Free Justice California for your tireless work to uplift the needs of justice-involved people.
Yours in Financial Justice,
Anne, Michelle, Shawn
