Financial Punishment

This course covers both constitutional and policy issues related to the use of financial punishments in the United States: fines, surcharges, administrative costs, restitution, and forfeitures. Topics include the historical use of financial punishments, poverty in the United States, the way in which government actors may be incentivized by the revenue generating qualities of financial punishment, the implications of financial sanctions on policing practices and policies, the relationship between financial punishment and the right to counsel, the downstream implications for those unable to pay financial sanctions, and more. This course is related to Criminal Procedure” Adjudication and Criminal Procedure: Investigations, but these courses are not prerequisites.