The criminal justice system relies on financial sanctions to encourage behavior change, but there is little evidence to support that fines and fees encourage law-abiding behaviors. Fines and fees primarily fund government operations and they are especially devastating for low-income communities, creating more barriers to successful community supervision and criminalizing poverty. Individuals who are unable to satisfy their LFOs are at risk for additional monetary sanctions, only pushing them further into a cycle of debt, making it more difficult to meet all conditions of community supervision.
