A law passed by Florida Republicans to limit a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to felony offenders violates the 14th and 24th Amendments, the judge ruled.
County offices and courts are closed for COVID-19, but the jails are full.
It seems unlikely that most Americans who owe fines for petty crimes will be in a better position to pay them in 60 to 90 days.
"Equally guilty but wealthier felons are offered access to the ballot while these plaintiffs continue to be disenfranchised, perhaps forever."
"As a matter of public policy, this system is clearly broken," says Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza.
"Taxation by citation" harms the harmless and destroys trust in civic institutions.
Miami Beach's crackdown on Airbnb is "in jarring conflict" with a state law capping municipal fines at $1,000 per day, Judge Michael Hanzman ruled.
Allie Nelson is the latest plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Chicago's vehicle impound racket, which seizes cars from the innocent and guilty alike.
Fines continued to pile up for almost a decade.
Two federal court rulings cite a significant conflict of interest.
Governing puts together a database of cities and towns addicted to money from fines and forfeitures.
His death resulted from a violent confrontation that never should have happened.
A global culinary capital considers surrendering to the nanny state.
"I don't think that I deserve to pay $80 for something that is fixable — and I can fix it, if that's all you want me to do."
The new law eliminates a loophole that allowed police to continue arresting people for something that was not supposed to be a crime anymore.
And will the end result encourage companies to try to keep cybersecurity breaches secret?
New Orleans can't use zoning regulations to decide what counts as artistic expression.
If governments can oppress, they usually will.
Florida man may lose home because he didn’t cut his grass.
Cannabidiol products are legal for sale and consumption, but adding it to other things is somehow forbidden.
The lawsuit is the second filed this year challenging Chicago's punitive and corrupt towing program.
Amanda Forst faces reckless endangerment charges for assuming her children—ages 2, 5, and 7—could survive a very short wait.
New York's parking regulations make numerous traffic tickets just another cost of doing business for the city's food trucks.
Restaurateurs get protection from small competitors. It’s the citizens who lose out on delicious food choices.
The oft-abused tool is used more to raise revenue than to protect public safety.
Plus: An old drug warrior learns new tricks, Taiwan legalizes same-sex marriage, and more...
Institute for Justice sues Dunedin, Fla., over the $29,000 in fines imposed without due process over Jim Ficken's unmowed lawn.
Following a Reason investigation into Chicago's punitive vehicle impound program, a new lawsuit alleges the practice violates Chicagoans constitutional rights.
Harris supported a truancy law that listed jail time as a punishment for parents.
Facebook would prosper in a less robust market.
Florida's $300 felony theft threshold turns petty crimes into prison time. That might change soon.
The civil rights group argues that such laws infringe on free speech.
Gov. Ralph Northam pushes for reform.
The good news? Utah is lifting its alcohol cap! The bad news? The new cap is still quite low.
Radicals team up with the food police to infringe on our right to eat.
A Florida House committee advanced a bill that would require people with felony records to pay off their court debts before they could regain the right to vote.
California man highlights the absurdity of dumb regulations.
The Eighth Amendment prohibition against excessive fines and fees applies to states as well, SCOTUS rules, opening a new way to challenge outlandish forfeitures.
The California-based retailer could have been hit with a fine of $575,000.
The fine is likely unconstitutional, and the city's strong-arm tactics were blocked by a judge this week.
The Trump administration's deportation push finally forced the Golden State to stop criminalizing everything.
When half of a court's funding comes from criminal defendants, incentives get twisted.
In a settlement reached Tuesday night, two residents of Mount Dora, Florida, will receive $15,000 and permission to keep their Van Gogh-inspired paint job.
"[A]s applied to indigent drivers, the law is not merely ineffective; it is powerfully counterproductive."
Drug violations generated more than $36 million of that.
The justices will hear oral arguments next term in Timbs v. Indiana.