Posts Tagged ‘court fines’
Waging War on the Poor: Unpaid Fines Lead to Jail
By Christopher Zoukis Stung by a series of lawsuits filed across the nation challenging the practice of jailing people unable to pay court fees and fines, Texas legislators passed a law that requires judges to offer community service alternatives to low-income defendants convicted of offenses where the maximum punishment is a fine. The law went…
Read MoreOregon Garnishment Exemption Protects Funds in Prisoners’ Accounts
By Mark Wilson An Oregon judge has held that a prosecutor improperly seized money from a prisoner’s trust account to pay a court-ordered “compensatory fine.” In 2006, Norman Earl Schlunt was convicted of poisoning and suffocating his business partner and sentenced to life in prison. He also was ordered to pay a $20,000 “compensatory fine”…
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