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Imprisonment For Nonpayment Of Fines And Costs: A New Look At The Law And The Constitution, Paul M. Stein

Vanderbilt Law Review

This note is based on the premise that a new understanding of the principles of sentencing has evolved during the past half-century. After articulating this thesis, one which has been more fully developed elsewhere, an assessment is made of the extent to which the more modern concepts of sentencing have been embodied in public policy as enunciated in statutes and court decisions, particularly decisions interpreting constitutional requirements. This examination reveals tha the existing rules and practices concerning imprisonment for fines and costs reflect uneasy compromises between competing policies and that these rules and practices are largely holdovers from an earlier …