Far from offering people a "second chance," our criminal justice system frequently punishes those who never had a first chance: people in poverty. By focusing law enforcement on low-level offenses and subjecting criminal defendants to money bail and other fees, our country effectively punishes people for being poor.
Poverty is not only a predictor of involvement with the justice system: Too often, it is also the outcome. Criminal punishment subjects people to countless fines, fees, and other costs (often enriching private companies in the process). A criminal record, meanwhile, does lasting collateral damage.
Below is our key research on how the criminal justice system punishes poverty:
Key statistics:
Share of Americans who have been charged court- or traffic-related fines or fees in the past 10 years: 1 in 3 Americans1
Medical “copay” for a single appointment for incarcerated people earning 14 to 63 cents/hour: $2 to $52
… cost equivalent for a minimum-wage worker: $2003
Percentage of people in state prisons who report being on public assistance growing up: 42% 4
Revenues from communication fees, commissary purchases, disciplinary fines, and more flow into "Inmate Welfare Funds" meant to benefit incarcerated populations. However, our analysis reveals that they are used more like slush funds that, in many cases, make society's most vulnerable people pay for prison operations, staff salaries, benefits, and more.
We gathered evidence from throughout the country to show how bail companies profit off of people in jails who can't afford bail, while avoiding accountability.
Our analysis of rare survey date shows how mass incarceration has been used to warehouse people with marginalized identities and those struggling with poverty, substance use disorders, and housing insecurity, among other serious problems.
Our followup report to Beyond the Count explores the medical histories of people in state prison, showing that most incarcerated people lacked health insurance or were on Medicaid in the leadup to their incarceration.
At least 4.9 million people go to county and city jails each year, our national analysis shows. We find that people who go to jail - particularly those who go more than once a year - are disproportionately likely to have incomes under $10,000.
We show that even before their incarceration, people in prison are much poorer than Americans of similar ages. We also break this data down by gender, revealing for the first time the pre-incarceration incomes of women behind bars.
We explain how the pretrial detention and bail process works. We also show why paying money bail is so difficult: For a typical defendant, money bail represents about eight months' pay, and even more for women and people of color.
New research links medical copays to reduced healthcare access in prisons, by Emily Widra, August 29, 2024 Using our prior research on prison wages and medical copays, researchers found that higher copays obstruct access to necessary healthcare behind bars, even as prison populations face increasing rates of physical and mental health conditions.
Prison disciplinary fines only further impoverish incarcerated people and families, by Leah Wang, February 7, 2024 We analyzed prison policies for all 50 states and the federal prison system, and found that 16 prison systems actually impose fines -- in addition to other punishments -- when someone violates a prison rule. We explain why disciplinary fines and fees are bad policy, putting excessive hardship on incarcerated people and their loved ones.
Force multipliers: How the criminal legal and child welfare systems cooperate to punish families, by Emma Peyton Williams, January 8, 2024 Child protective service agencies position themselves as providers of welfare, but their relationship to the criminal legal system demonstrates their shared role in punishing families and exacerbating the conditions that lead to system involvement in the first place.
Not an alternative: The myths, harms, and expansion of pretrial electronic monitoring, by Emmett Sanders, October 30, 2023 Cities and states are expanding their use of electronic ankle monitors to surveil people released from jail pretrial, often charging people steep daily fees to be supervised. We explain why this technology is, at best, a counterproductive tool for reducing jail populations.
Seeking shelter from mass incarceration: Fighting criminalization with Housing First, by Brian Nam-Sonenstein, September 11, 2023 Providing unconditional housing with embedded services can reduce chronic homelessness, reduce incarceration, and improve quality of life - especially for people experiencing substance use disorder and mental illness.
High stakes mistakes: How courts respond to “failure to appear”, by Brian Nam-Sonenstein, August 15, 2023 Research shows that while most people who miss court are not dangerous or evading justice, the way courts treat “failure to appear” may make our communities less safe.
Racial disparities in diversion: A research roundup, by Leah Wang, March 7, 2023 Research shows diversion "works," reducing harmful outcomes and increasing access to social services. However, studies also suggest diversion is routinely denied to people of color, sending them deeper into the criminal legal system. We review the research and remind practitioners that most diversion programs aren't designed around racial equity — but should be.
How your local public housing authority can reduce barriers for people with criminal records, by Selena Munoz-Jones and Emily Widra, February 15, 2023 Millions of people with criminal records likely meet the income eligibility requirements for public housing assistance. But needlessly strict local policies lock them out of housing. We explain how your public housing authority may be overly exclusionary.
New data on formerly incarcerated people's employment reveal labor market injustices, by Leah Wang and Wanda Bertram, February 8, 2022 Newly released data doubles down on what we've reported before: Formerly incarcerated people face huge obstacles to finding stable employment, leading to detrimental society-wide effects. Considering the current labor market, there may be plenty of jobs available, but they don't guarantee stability or economic mobility for this vulnerable population.
Since you asked: Should incarcerated people be receiving stimulus payments?, by Stephen Raher, May 18, 2020 Some correctional authorities - responding to bad guidance from the IRS - are intercepting and returning stimulus checks for incarcerated people. We explain why people in prison and jail are eligible for, and should be receiving, emergency aid.
New data: Low incomes - but high fees - for people on probation, by Mack Finkel, April 9, 2019 People on probation are much more likely to be low-income than those who aren't, and steep monthly probation fees put them at risk of being jailed when they can't pay.
New data highlights pre-incarceration disadvantages, by Lucius Couloute, March 22, 2018 New research illustrates that many formerly incarcerated people never received a fair first chance at economic mobility, never mind a second one.
How does unaffordable money bail affect families?, by Wendy Sawyer, August 15, 2018 Using a national data set, we find that over half of the people held in jail pretrial because they can't afford bail are parents of minor children.
Seizing Chicago: Drug stings and asset forfeiture target the poor, by Alex Clark and Joshua Aiken, August 11, 2017 Instead of protecting Chicago's communities, state asset forfeiture practices and drug stings set up by federal agents target low-income, Black, and Latino residents, setting them up to fail.
The justice system's unequal treatment of poor people hits people of color and women the hardest. Our research provides race and gender breakdowns in the criminal justice system.
Criminal punishment does lasting damage to someone's ability to find education, housing, or a job — often trapping them in poverty. Tens of millions of Americans are currently dealing with these "collateral consequences" of punishment.
Incarcerated people and their families are a captive market, one that private companies — in collusion with jail administrators — are all too eager to exploit. We are bringing these practices to light and fighting back.
Research Library
Didn't find what you were looking for? We also curate a database of virtually all the empirical criminal justice research available online. See the sections of our Research Library on poverty and wealth and the economics of incarceration.
Beyond the Count: A deep dive into state prison populations
Chronic Punishment: The unmet health needs of people in state prisons
Chronic Punishment: The unmet health needs of people in state prisons
Arrest, Release, Repeat: How police and jails are misused to respond to social problems
Arrest, Release, Repeat: How police and jails are misused to respond to social problems
Prisons of Poverty: Uncovering the pre-incarceration incomes of the imprisoned
Prisons of Poverty: Uncovering the pre-incarceration incomes of the imprisoned
Detaining the Poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time
Detaining the Poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time
Race and gender
Collateral consequences
Collateral consequences
Exploitation
Exploitation
