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.
Pagedale, Missouri, will stop trying to fine you for having mismatched curtains or saggy pants.
The practice traps the poor in a spiral of debt, hobbling their ability to pay off their fines.
How a uniquely punitive city impound program combined with the drug war and asset forfeiture to deprive people of their vehicles for years at a time.
A state senator wants to crack down on "economic crimes" in the state's underground economy.
Proposed water restrictions will do little to solve the state's water woes.
A municipal scheme with a private prosecution firm leads to outrageous fines in the California desert.
That's one out of every six licensed drivers in the state.
An already awful practice of trying to use code violations as a revenue stream gets truly grotesque.
No one is pettier than government.
A couple of busted windows can result in a bill for thousands-even tens of thousands-of dollars.
But they're not excessive, she says.
Civil liberties groups say suspending drivers' licenses for unpaid court fines traps poor people in debt spiral. A federal judge appears to agree.
Occupational licensing runs amok in a familiar story.
Classic protection racket enforced by city fines.
The latest setback for one of the most corrupt citation systems in the country
It's happening in California, where the case goes to penalty trial in August, if the Trump administration doesn't stop it before then.
In Miami's war on Airbnb, speaking up can make you a target. City manager says residents who spoke at hearing are now "on notice."
City commissioner frets that Airbnb users aren't paying "the tourist development tax" and other special taxes targeting visitors.
Hundreds of thousands of Virginians have suspended licenses for unpaid court fines, according to a class-action lawsuit.
Group says Santa Fe tosses misdemeanor violators in jail if they can't pay-and starves them, too.
Florida Man arrested, sent to jail over a container attached to his bicycle.
A pair of orchestrated hit pieces from media outlets has spurred the city to hand out massive fines.
More than 900,000 people in Virginia have suspended licenses, in what a new class-action lawsuit claims is an unconstitutional revenue scheme.
Virginia accused of having a "debtors prison" of its own
Rand Paul gives Black Lives Matter policy agenda a substantive voice on the debate stage
Deal in the works with the Department of Justice.
Tickets for not having curtains or screen doors used to fund government.
Increasing automation limits the ability of authorities to profit off human error.
City increases fine for cursing in public.
You know who else has a judicial system that is hard to fight and extracts money from citizens?
Tucked behind the skeletal remains of a melted windshield wiper...
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