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Eliminating The Criminal Debt Exception For Debtors' Prison, Cortney E. Lollar
Eliminating The Criminal Debt Exception For Debtors' Prison, Cortney E. Lollar
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
Although the exact number is unknown due to poor documentation, the data available suggests nearly a quarter of the current incarcerated population is detained due to a failure to pay their legal financial obligations. In federal courts alone, the amount of criminal legal debt owed to the U.S. government in fiscal year 2017 totaled more than $27 billion, and to third parties, more than $96 billion, not including interest. In 2004, approximately sixty-six percent of all prison inmates were assessed a fine or fee as part of their criminal sentence.4 Not surprisingly, legal financial obligations disproportionately impact poor defendants and …