Contacts:
Jag Davies, jdavies@finesandfeesjusticecenter.org, 786-393-8100
Katie Schaffer, kschaffer@communityalternatives.org, 646-265-2044
Wednesday: Advocates & Lawmakers to Rally at State Capitol Prior to Senate Hearing on End Predatory Court Fees Act
Momentum Rapidly Accelerating in NY & Nationwide to Eliminate Court Fees
WHAT: Ahead of a Senate hearing on the End Predatory Court Fees Act, directly impacted advocates, state lawmakers, and other key stakeholders will hold a press conference and rally calling for passage of this critical legislation. The End Predatory Court Fees Act would eliminate New York’s court, parole and probation fees, mandatory minimum fines, incarceration on the basis of unpaid fines and fees, and garnishment of commissary accounts.
At the press conference, speakers will demand an end to our state’s dangerous reliance on court fees, a regressive revenue source that traps millions of low-income residents in a vicious cycle of debt and punishment.
Following the press conference and rally, speakers will testify at a joint Senate Codes and Corrections Committee hearing on the legislation.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 13 at 9am
WHERE: LCA Press Room (Legislative Office Building, room 130), NY State Capitol, Albany (Note: those unable to attend in-person can register here to watch online.)
WHO: Speakers will include state legislators, as well as impacted New Yorkers and advocates, including:
- Senator Julia Salazar, sponsor of the End Predatory Court Fees Act and chair of the Senate Corrections Committee
- Peggy Herrera, Robin DelPiore & TJ Shivers, directly impacted campaign leaders from Center for Community Alternatives & New York Communities for Change
- Sirena Liguori, New Hour for Women and Children – Long Island
- Jackie Gosdigian, Brooklyn Defender Services
- Antonya Jeffrey, Fines and Fees Justice Center
VISUALS: Dozens of New Yorkers rallying with signs that say: “No Price On Justice,” “End the Criminalization of Poverty,” and “Tax The Rich, Not The Poor”.
BACKGROUND:
- The End Predatory Court Fees Act would eliminate court, parole & probation fees, mandatory minimum fines, incarceration on the basis of unpaid fines and fees, and garnishment of commissary accounts for unpaid fines and fees.
- U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney and U.S. Representative & House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler have both called for passage of the legislation.
- A recent report — New York’s Ferguson Problem — shows how the state’s reliance on fines and fees revenue encourages policing-for-profit, criminalizes poverty, and endangers Black and brown lives.
- Last month, California’s Gov. Newsom signed legislation eliminating 17 fees and discharging $534 million in court debt. This builds on a reform bill enacted last year that ended the collection of 23 fees charged to people in California’s criminal justice system — such as probation, parole, and local booking fees — and discharging $16 billion in court debt. Momentum is building in numerous states and municipalities around the U.S. for similar reforms.
About the NO PRICE ON JUSTICE campaign:
No Price on Justice is a coalition of economic and racial justice organizations, grassroots groups, and impacted people working to end New York’s predatory court fines and fees.
Members of the No Price on Justice coalition include: Brooklyn Defender Services, Center for Community Alternatives, Citizen Action, Children’s Defense Fund, Color of Change, Community Service Society, Fiscal Policy Institute, Fines and Fees Justice Center, Legal Aid Society, New York Civil Liberties Union, New York Communities for Change, Partnership for the Public Good, and a dozen other organizations from across New York State.
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New York Daily News
Fight for Fairness on Fines and Fees
By U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney
Albany Times-Union
Predatory Court Fees Are the Wrong Way to Raise Revenue
By Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou
New York Daily News
Stop Putting a Price on Justice
By Peggy Herrera, Center for Community Alternatives
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