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Criminal court fees, earnings, and expenditures: A multi-state RD analysis of survey and administrative data

Author

Listed:
  • Carl Lieberman
  • Elizabeth Luh
  • Michael Mueller-Smith

Abstract

Millions of people in the United States face fines and fees in the criminal court system each year, totaling over $27 billion in overall criminal debt to-date. In this study, we leverage five distinct natural experiments in Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin using regression discontinuity designs to evaluate the causal impact of such financial sanctions and user fees. We consider a range of long-term outcomes including employment, recidivism, household expenditures, and other self-reported measures of well-being, which we measure through a combination of administrative records on earnings and employment, the Criminal Justice Administrative Records System, and household surveys. We find consistent evidence across the range of natural experiments and subgroup analyses of precise null effects on the population, ruling out long-run impacts larger than +/-3.6% on total earnings and +/-4.7% on total recidivism. Failure to find changes in outcomes undermines popular narratives of poverty traps arising from criminal debt but argues against the use of fines and fees as a source of local revenue and as a crime control tool.

Suggested Citation

  • Carl Lieberman & Elizabeth Luh & Michael Mueller-Smith, 2023. "Criminal court fees, earnings, and expenditures: A multi-state RD analysis of survey and administrative data," Working Papers 23-06, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:23-06
    as

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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2023/adrm/ces/CES-WP-23-06.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2023
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keith Finlay & Michael Mueller-Smith & Brittany Street, 2022. "Measuring Intergenerational Exposure to the U.S. Justice System: Evidence from Longitudinal Links between Survey and Administrative Data," Working Papers 2211, Department of Economics, University of Missouri.
    2. Will Dobbie & Jacob Goldin & Crystal S. Yang, 2018. "The Effects of Pretrial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 201-240, February.
    3. Benjamin Hansen, 2015. "Punishment and Deterrence: Evidence from Drunk Driving," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1581-1617, April.
    4. Sebastian Calonico & Matias D. Cattaneo & Rocio Titiunik, 2014. "Robust Nonparametric Confidence Intervals for Regression‐Discontinuity Designs," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82, pages 2295-2326, November.
    5. Libor Dušek & Christian Traxler, 2022. "Learning from Law Enforcement," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 739-777.
    6. Fairlie, Robert W, 1999. "The Absence of the African-American Owned Business: An Analysis of the Dynamics of Self-Employment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(1), pages 80-108, January.
    7. Markus Gehrsitz, 2017. "Speeding, Punishment, and Recidivism: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(3), pages 497-528.
    8. Evan K. Rose, 2021. "Does Banning the Box Help Ex-Offenders Get Jobs? Evaluating the Effects of a Prominent Example," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(1), pages 79-113.
    9. Gehrsitz, Markus, 2017. "Speeding, Punishment, and Recidivism: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," IZA Discussion Papers 10707, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Emily Leslie & Nolan G. Pope, 2017. "The Unintended Impact of Pretrial Detention on Case Outcomes: Evidence from New York City Arraignments," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(3), pages 529-557.
    11. Megan T Stevenson, 2018. "Distortion of Justice: How the Inability to Pay Bail Affects Case Outcomes," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(4), pages 511-542.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Traxler & Libor Dušek, 2023. "Fines, Non-Payment, and Revenues: Evidence from Speeding Tickets," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0023, Berlin School of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    criminal justice; fines; deterrence; recidivism; labor market outcomes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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