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Abstract: 

Involvement in the U.S. criminal justice system does not start with incarceration but, rather, with policing and municipal court practices that often seem to target persons of color and those without resources. Mounting legal financial obligations such as fines, fees, restitution, supervision fees, and public defender fees saddle individuals without means to insurmountable debt, often turning U.S. jails into debtors’ prisons. This article examines how involvement in the criminal justice system is both a consequence and cause of poverty and how the system perpetuates inequality, including racial disparity. It explores opportunities to reform the criminal justice system both locally and nationally.

Keywords: U.S. criminal justice system, mass incarceration, poverty and policing, criminal justice debt, prisoner reentry

Affiliations:  1: Volunteers of America Delaware Valley.