WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, released today, alleges that Oklahoma funds its public justice system almost entirely by levying heavy fines and multiple fees against the state’s poorest residents. The practice of incarcerating people who owe fees and fines as a method of “forcing” payment, has criminalized poverty, expanded mass incarceration, and increased economic inequality in the State of Oklahoma.
The report, “Enforcing Poverty: How Fines & Fees Influence Oklahoma’s High Incarceration Rates,” examines the problem of indigent incarceration in the State of Oklahoma, as observed by the Lawyers’ Committee staff and volunteers during more than two years of investigation, which included extensive court-watching, reviewing numerous public records, and interviewing individuals who work in the criminal justice system, as well as those charged and/or incarcerated as the result of their inability to pay fines and fees.
“Oklahoma now has the highest incarceration rate in the world and, no doubt, the proliferation of debtors’ prisons has contributed to escalating incarceration rates and exacerbated the crisis faced by the most vulnerable communities across the state,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “This report is an important step in our continued efforts to challenge the unconstitutional jailing of poor defendants who are trapped in a cycle of endless debt imposed by the criminal justice system. Courts across Oklahoma that impose fines and fees without any regard for one’s ability to pay do so at the expense of low-income African-Americans, Hispanics and other communities. Our work in Oklahoma makes clear that fines and fees are imposed as a crude source of revenue for jurisdictions across the state, making this a crisis of monumental proportion families,” said Clarke.
The report finds that Oklahoma courts refuse to utilize statutory provisions designed to protect the poor and disabled and instead employs aggressive fines and fees to fund its criminal justice system in violation of Oklahoma state law and the federal law.
“Law enforcement and court operations that prioritize revenue generation over public safety have resulted in a criminal justice system that entraps thousands in an endless cycle of poverty and debt,” said Myesha Braden, Director for the Criminal Justice Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “This report suggests that Oklahoma’s incarceration crises and the growing cost of maintaining its criminal justice system have been fueled by the repeated arrest of those who cannot afford to pay court-imposed fines, costs, and particularly fees. It’s time for the state to take a long, hard look at the consequences of financing critical government functions on the backs of the poor rather than from the State treasury,” said Braden.
The report also found that:
- Oklahoma courts routinely incarcerate people for failing to pay their court fines, fees, and costs, without ever determining that their nonpayment was willful and not the result of their poverty;
- Because courts routinely fail to conduct meaningful ability to pay inquiries, the poorest Oklahomans inevitably fall behind on their payments and fall victim to an endless cycle of bench warrants, arrests, and incarceration, thus exacerbating Oklahoma’s mass incarceration problem; and
- Oklahoma’s “fee statute, Title 28, incentivizes courts to ignore existing statutory protections, thereby contributing to high rates of incarceration within the State.
In addition to the report, the Lawyers’ Committee maintains active litigation in Oklahoma. In March 2019, the organization filed Feenstra v. Sigler, a lawsuit on behalf of individuals in Washington County, Oklahoma, where local judges routinely jail poor people for nonpayment of court-imposed fines and fees without consideration of their ability to pay, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and Oklahoma law. The lawsuit also challenges actions taken by the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System in executing public defender contracts that include a powerful financial incentive for court appointed attorneys to close cases as quickly as possible, rather than demanding ability to pay hearings, thereby creating a conflict of interest that deprives defendants of their Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
The full report can be viewed here.
About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Now in its 56th year, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is continuing its quest to “Move America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and voting rights.
Contact
Reynolds Graves, Lawyers’ Committee, RGraves@LawyersCommittee.org, 202-662-8375
