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Texas Criminal Court Fees are a Tax on Poor Defendants
by Matt Clarke
The Texas legislature has erected such a hodgepodge of criminal court fees that even the court administrators and clerks don’t know how to apply them. These fees, which are frequently not used for their intended purposes, amount to a hidden tax on the poorest members of society ...
The Texas legislature has erected such a hodgepodge of criminal court fees that even the court administrators and clerks don’t know how to apply them. These fees, which are frequently not used for their intended purposes, amount to a hidden tax on the poorest members of society ...
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More from this issue:
- Corizon Needs a Checkup: Problems with Privatized Correctional Healthcare, by Greg Dober
- Florida County Agrees to Pay $4 Million to Deceased Prisoner’s Estate, by Derek Gilna
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Removal of Prisoner’s Dreadlocks
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Second Circuit Vacates Magistrate’s Judgment Entered without Consent
- Why There’s an Even Larger Racial Disparity in Private Prisons Than in Public Ones, by Katie Rose Quandt
- Arrest-Proof Yourself, by Dale Carson and Wes Denham, by John Dannenberg
- When Victims Speak Up in Court – in Defense of the Criminals, by Andrew Cohen
- Texas Criminal Court Fees are a Tax on Poor Defendants, by Matthew Clarke
- Oregon Jail Guard Quits, Divorces Wife for Former Prisoner
- South Dakota Parole Board Improperly Enhanced Prisoner’s Parole Date
- California Female Prisoners Sterilized
- Kentucky Supreme Court: Probation Cannot be Extended for Sex Offender Treatment
- Former Detainee Alleges Unconstitutional Conditions at Illinois Jail, Accepts $7,501 Judgment
- Seventh Circuit Upholds FTCA Venue Transfer
- Alabama Sheriff Made Party on Counterclaim Alleging Prisoners Subjected to Sexual Abuse
- Adverse Inference Instruction Required for New York Jail’s Destruction of Video Evidence
- Washington Jail Denied Good Time without Due Process; Rehearing Ordered
- California County Not Liable for Misconduct of Jail Guard Not Acting within Scope of Employment
- Texas Courts Examine Proof of Ability to Pay Probation Fees before Revocation, by Matthew Clarke
- Second Circuit: Videoconference at Resentencing Violates Right to be Present
- Taylor County, Texas Rarely Disciplines Jailers
- Eighth Circuit: Denial of Nominal Damages Jury Instruction was Improper
- D.C. Circuit Holds PLRA’s Exhaustion Requirement Inapplicable to Former Prisoner
- Michigan Parole and Probation Supervision Scrutinized; Three Officials Fired
- The Federal Tort Claims Act: A Primer, by Derek Gilna
- Psst! Hey Man, Need Some Execution Drugs?
- A Rare Look Inside the Maine State Prison's "Supermax", by Lance Tapley
- Video Visitation a Growing Trend, but Concerns Remain
- Online Gaming Accounts of New York Registered Sex Offenders Restricted or Closed
- PLRA Does Not Permit Waiver of Court-ordered Answer
- New Hampshire Prisoners Suspected of Breaching Prison Computer System
- Businesses, Members of Congress Not Happy with UNICOR, by Derek Gilna
- Ninth Circuit Holds Staff Sexual Abuse Presumed Coercive; State Bears Burden of Rebutting Presumption
- Lawsuits filed over Oregon Jail Death
- News in Brief
More from Matthew Clarke:
- DOJ Finds “Horrific and Inhumane” Conditions in Georgia Prisons, March 1, 2025
- Sixth Circuit Upholds $6.4 Million Jury Award Against Corizon Nurses For Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Fatal Alcohol Withdrawal, March 1, 2025
- En Banc Fifth Circuit Reverses Panel, Holds Mississippi Felon Disenfranchisement Does Not Violate Eighth Amendment, March 1, 2025
- USDC (D. Oregon), Case No. 6:22-cv-00451, Feb. 15, 2025
- Legal Gaffe Prolongs Case of Former St. Louis Detainee Held Eight Months After Dismissal of Charges, Feb. 15, 2025
- Among World Nations, Individual U.S. States Near Top of List for Per Capita Incarceration, Feb. 15, 2025
- DOJ Settles Complaints About Conditions for Disabled Detroit Jail Detainees, Feb. 15, 2025
- New York Prison Officials Found Routinely Violating HALT Act With Overuse of Solitary Confinement, Feb. 15, 2025
- Historic $7 Million Settlement in Lawsuit Over Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Fatal Beating, Feb. 15, 2025
- Suits Filed Over Dehydration Deaths at Two Texas Jails, Jan. 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- Pennsylvania County Forgives $65 Million in Jail Pay-to-Stay Fees, March 1, 2025. Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Booking Fees.
- Fourth Circuit Chides Virginia Magistrate for Assuming Prisoners Proceed IFP, Aug. 15, 2024. Filing Fees, Indigent Defendants - Fees and Expenses, In Forma Pauperis.
- Washington Superior Court Says Jail Cannot Bill Poor Detainees for Medical Care, May 1, 2024. Medical, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Booking Fees.
- Former Connecticut Prisoner’s Challenge Proceeds Against “Pay-to-Stay” Fees, Sept. 15, 2023. Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Booking Fees, Constitutional Challenges/Law.
- Nevada Federal Court Says Prisoner’s § 1983 Suit Should’ve Been a Habeas Petition, But Returns Filing Fee, Feb. 1, 2023. Filing Fees, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Amendments to Petition.
- Kentucky Supreme Court Rules ‘Incarceration Fees’ May Not Be Collected After Charges Are Dismissed, June 1, 2022. Booking Fees, Reimbursement of Costs, Acquitted Conduct/Uncharged Crimes/Dismissed Counts.
- California First State to Eliminate Post-Prison Fees, Dec. 1, 2020. Booking Fees, Indigent Defendants - Fees and Expenses.
- Dismissal Not Authorized for Oregon Victim’s Refusal to Comply With Subpoena, Oct. 4, 2020. Civil Procedure, Subpoenas, Fair Trial.
- Missouri County Votes to Eliminate Jail Fees, Wiping Out $3.4 Million in Debt for Former Prisoners, Jan. 9, 2020. Filing Fees, Bond Fees, Booking Fees.
- Fifth Circuit: Practices of Orleans Parish Judges in Collecting Fines and Fees Violates Due Process, Oct. 15, 2019. Booking Fees, Fourteenth Amendment, rights.