New York advocates urge Albany to eliminate court fines and fees

Sate Sen. Julia Salazar joined advocates on Wednesday to call for passage of a bill to end unfair court fees. Photos courtesy of Center for Community Alternatives

By Rachel Vick

A group of advocates and elected officials rallied outside Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday to call on state lawmakers to eliminate court fines and fees that disproportionately impact low-income New Yorkers.

A piece of legislation sponsored by Brooklyn State Sen. Julia Salazar would prohibit mandatory minimum fines for criminal and traffic offenses, assess an individual’s financial situation before imposing fines, and eliminate incarceration as punishment for a failure to pay a fine or fee 

“It is outrageous and wrong that our city is kicking people while they are down,” Salazar said at the rally. “It creates a perverse incentive for localities and the state to criminalize people and we’re not going to let it continue.” 

Salazar said New York’s recent tax hike on the rich will more replace the revenue that the state receives from people convicted of crimes. 

New Yorkers behind bars typically earn less than a dollar a day performing prison jobs, making it nearly impossible to earn enough money to pay off fines and fees while also footing the bill for jailhouse essentials, she added.

Organizers from the “No Price on Justice” campaign testified in support of the End Predatory Court Fees Act and described the impact of fees on individuals and families.

“It’s almost unfathomable,” said Marvin Mayfield, lead statewide organizer with the Center for Community Alternatives. “These court fees have been a backdoor tax on those who are least able to pay — now it’s time to undo the harm of New York's regressive, ineffective and predatory court fees.

“Poverty is not a crime,” he added.

If passed, the End Predatory Court Fees Act would also end the seizure of commissary accounts and reduce the sentences for people currently serving time for unpaid fees.

New York Communities for Change member Peggy Perkins said she was arrested in front of her young daughter and forced to pay for childcare and a $200 fee she couldn’t afford.

“They don’t talk about the children, about the families victimized,” Perkins said. “You pay the fine or go to jail. They are constantly profiting off of us. Enough is enough — it is time for a major change.”

The Senate bill has nine co-sponsors and the Assembly version of the bill, sponsored by Yuh-Line Niou has 14 co-sponsors.