fines and fees Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

Court Costs, Fines, and Fees Are Bad Policy

Across the country, regressive court fines, administrative costs, and filing fees are functioning to penalize people solely for their poverty. Court costs, fines, and fees (also known as “monetary sanctions”) exist in both the civil and criminal realms of the justice system and are applied in al...

Appleseed applauds efforts to curb illegally imposed criminal court fines, fees, and costs; Releases New Resource for Defense Attorneys

Two recent decisions by the Illinois Appellate Court, People v. Mullen and People v. Smith, reduced or eliminated certain court costs, fines, and fees imposed on people convicted of crimes in Cook County. These decisions criticized both “Illinois’s labyrinthine system of criminal fines and fees” a...

The Clerk of the Court Should Serve the Community

The Clerk of the Court of Cook County has considered—and apparently rejected—a policy change that would have charged all parties to receive the first copy of any order issued in their case. At Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers, we are glad to learn that this policy won’t be adopte...

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