A couple of New York lawmakers have submitted legislation to hold back or restrain mandatory court charges they say are unfair to the poor.
What We Know:
- Legislation supported by Sen. Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, both Democrats, would eliminate mandatory surcharges, totaling hundreds of dollars. The fees are attached to every conviction, which includes traffic tickets.
- Judges could waive or reduce those surcharges, but the legislature took away such power starting in 1995.
- People who cannot afford to pay can have their wages taken or face civil judgments. The bill would put a stop to New York state taking prisoners’ salaries. It would also vacate civil judgments in submitting against someone only because they couldn’t afford court fees and fines.
- This legislation, backed by an alliance of New York-based criminal justice reform groups, is designed to help people such as Syracuse resident Robin Delpriore. Delpriore realized the courts were taking too much from the $100 in payments she was placing on her 25-year-old son’s, Alexander, prison commissary account. Alexander was charged for criminal weapon possession in 2017. He owed more than $500 in fees.
- The bill would also eliminate overcharges while still allowing courts to charge fines, which are meant to deter crime.
- The president of New York State Magistrates Association, Judge Jonah Triebwasser, represents more than 2,600 town and village justices outside of New York City. State judges authorize people who cannot afford fees to make fragmented payments until the amount is paid off. He also mentions he does not know of any judge in New York who’s sent a person to jail for simply failing to pay a court fee or fine.
The Fines and Fees Justice Center, an organization that works to eliminate fees in the justice system, had found that a dozen New York local governments report that fines and fees make up over 20% of their revenue.
