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In other words, a common punishment might be more cruel than a rare one: For example, it would be more cruel to commit torture on a mass scale than on rare occasions, not less. As Dr. Harris outlined at the beginning of the program, one of the four systems of justice in which LFOs are imposed is the juvenile justice system. Some Supreme Court justices believe it is the Courts responsibility to make these decisions independently, because a punishment may be cruel and unusual even if it is popular among the general public and even if a legislature has deemed it appropriate. Second, does the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause only prohibit barbaric methods of punishment, or does it also prohibit punishments that are disproportionate to the offense? He describes how cities are jailing or fining the poorest people for offenses rooted in their homeless status, saying he observed aggressive enforcement of this kind in Los Angeles and San Francisco. If a given punishment has been continuously used for a very long time, this is powerful evidence that multiple generations of Americans have considered it reasonable and just. The greatness of our Constitution and America itself is dependent on how the Constitution is interpreted to ensure that all people are treated equally and fairly and have the same opportunity to exercise the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the exclusive group of men who authored the Constitution. 1. The Washington legislature has passed two pieces of legislation with provisional restoration of voting rights (House Bill 1517) and more interest relief options (Senate Bill 5423). Allen gave examples of Columbia Legal Services clients to explain how LFOs truly work against people who are unable to pay from the very start. And they sort of recognized that the population that they were managing had a really difficult time with the debt that was going to be imposed on them. It brings together all of the statutes, possible fines, and opportunities for discretion related to a given charge. Every weekday, get the worlds top human rights news, explored and explained by Andrew Stroehlein. Share this via Printer. The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution states: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.". Focusing on the original intentions of Founding Fathers cannot resolve important questions about punishment today. Professor Harris, I want to thank you so much for making the time to join us today.HARRIS:Oh, sure. Former federal public defender Alexandra Natapoff says 13 million misdemeanors are filed each year in the U.S., trapping the innocent, punishing the poor and making society more unequal. To become a great country, America needs its laws and basic constitutional principles to evolve as our understanding of human capacity and behavior deepens. While the webinar focused on specific examples of these buckets from Illinois, Ferguson, and Washington to demonstrate how the issues play out, Dr. Harris made clear that these fines, fees, and practices exist across the United States. More examples from each state can be found in Dr. Harris book, A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor (Russell Sage Found. If there is no ability to pay, there is no way to get out from under restitution or any other LFO, which leaves the offender bound to the system, forced into more serious debt, and suffering further from collateral consequences in employment, housing, etc. WATKINS:Yeah, from that perspective, it also seems hopeful that the issue of fines and fees appears to be getting a lot more attention of latein media coverage, and public discourse, and I think from criminal justice reformers as well. Ukraine war latest: Strike on Black Sea fleet 'God's punishment But once we get beyond these areas of agreement, there are many areas of passionate disagreement concerning the meaning and application of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause: First and foremost, what standard should the Court use in deciding whether a punishment is unconstitutionally cruel? Some states, such as Ohio and Washington, have issued bench cards outlining what is mandatory and what is discretionary. Yeah, so that runs counter to all of our notions - a lot of this runs counter to our notions of justice!WATKINS:Paying for a public defender, for example.HARRIS:Exactly. He/him/his. She didn't take the time to do the math. Technical support is from the resonant Bill Harkins. Research shows clearly that the chance of being caught is a vastly more effective deterrent than even draconian punishment. Within each of those LFOs: Is it mandatory? So, there is a legal protection, but the problem is that our courts at the state level have not established how judges should be interpreting the criteria by which judges should be interpreting willful nonpayment. Ukraine war latest: Boy, 6, cries as sister killed in Russian attack Other ways to share Chiraag Bains explained that, shortly after Michael Brown was shot on August 19, 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) opened two investigations into the police department of Ferguson: one into Michael Browns shooting and a second one, covered in this webinar, into the practices of the police department. It was really nice to talk with you.WATKINS:That was Alexes Harris. Shutterstock. No American leader could credibly support dueling as an acceptable method for resolving conflicts. There are laws, as in Washington, that require collection of restitution before any other LFO. (4) Are some modern methods of punishment such as the extended use of solitary confinement, or the use of a three-drug cocktail to execute offenders sufficiently barbaric to violate the Eighth Amendment? He did not see it as a punishment. How Do LFOs Affect People Who Are Unable to Pay? This amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing unduly harsh penalties on criminal defendants, either as the price for . If it fell out of usage for multiple generations, however, it might become cruel and unusual. Ending racial segregation in schools or restaurants and striking down bans on interracial marriage never could have been achieved by a popular vote in the American South. The different LFOs and penalties assessed by juvenile justice systems across the country are forcing young people and their families to go deeper into debt and become further entrenched in the court system with devastating results, as in the case of E.B. EdmondsMunicipal Court Judge Linda Coburn of Washington State. For more information about this episode visit our website, thats courtinnovation.org/newthinking. And if a punishment is cruel, why should we care whether it is unusual? Expungement (13 states). And in Washington State, that private collection agency can add 50% to that principal. You're also doing some more national work. I began our interview by asking Professor Harris whether there are generalizations we can make about the kinds of people most often being subjected to fines and fees.Alexes HARRIS:Definitely. There has to be a better balance struck between making the victim and community whole again without putting a terrible burden on the offender. Justices Scalia and Thomas argue that the four questions raised above should be answered as follows: (1) The standards of cruelty that prevailed in 1791, the year the Eighth Amendment was adopted, provide the appropriate benchmark for determining whether a punishment is cruel and unusual. Though Texas law provides only for fines for such offenses, it requires that persons unable to pay must be incarcerated for sufficient time to satisfy their fines, at the rate of $5 per day, which, in petitioner's case, meant an 85-day term. Whereas now, I break down what that represents, and I understand what that means. In researching the penalties imposed on young people for not paying LFOs, JLC is discovering that they include civil contempt, criminal contempt, incarceration, further fines, license suspension, violations of probation, violations of informal adjustment, civil judgment, and misdemeanors. First is the fine associated with any convictionif its a felony, that can easily be upwards of $1,000, and thats in addition to any time in jail or prison. This has led to an increase in fees assessed across the country and more aggressive collection tactics, including time in jail. I can make the adjustments because it's the judge that has the responsibility to exercise that discretion, not the clerks.WATKINS:I should say that I have colleagues here at the Center who work with you guys as part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance granton this calculator, that we offer some assistance through that grant, but it sounds like, if I've got this right, that your effort really is to make the fines and fees process more transparent basically to everybody and by doing that, make the process more intentional so people actually know what they're doing. If a once-traditional punishment falls out of usage for several generations, it becomes unusual. An error occurred while subscribing your email address. Explicit evidence, such as messages and memoranda, established that the court was operating as a revenue generator, to the point that police shifts, changes in employment, and decisions relating to the enforcement of laws were made from the perspective of increasing revenue. What started off as $3,400 in principal that he already lacked the ability to pay has now ballooned over $12,000 in LFOs, and there is really no end in sight because of the interest and because they are not going to expire, Allen points out. In recent years, some judges and scholars have argued that the meaning of the Constitution should change as societal values change. Burr ran for governor of New York and Hamilton widely considered the most influential founding father of the United States opposed his candidacy, making public remarks that Burr found insulting. Im Matt Watkins. In many other countries around the world, they find systems, and under those systems, their offense has a score, a number associated with the offense that they're convicted of. This essay concerns the original meaning of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause. But in California, eliminating juvenile fines and fees is an amazing step forward in recognizing that people who can't work can't pay back this debt. . Our VP of outreach is Emma Dayton. The special rapporteur addresses the many ways the US criminal justice system punishes people for their poverty and helps entrench their poverty further, said Komala Ramachandra, senior business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. One item that is missing is national, systematic court data that would allow us to assess who is being sentenced, who is paying what, and what is the amount outstanding. Opponents of the Constitution feared that this new power would allow Congress to use cruel punishments as a tool for oppressing the people. Im Matt Watkins. The United States Supreme Court in Bearden v. COBURN:Yes, it is. Permanent punishment for the poor is what I call it. Some of the devastating consequences include loss of jobs, disruption of child care, inability to pay rent, and deeper destitution, Alston said. So that's a whole other part of the story, is that in every way that people are being charged from being in jail for certain things, private probation, private collections, a literal captive audience has to pay to make profits for private companies.WATKINS:So in your observations, how much do you think judges actually understand about the fines and fees system?