Today, Hunter is joined once again by Leah Nelson, and this time, she is joined by Judge Stepehen Wallace. On today's episode, Leah and Judge Wallace are her to unveil their years long research into the fines and fees that the Jefferson County, Alabama Courts are extracting from criminal defendants. As will surprise no one who listens to the show, the fines and fees program fails the accused, fails victims, fails to fund the legal system, and thus, fails the entire state of Alabama.

Guests:

Leah Nelson, Co-Founder, Jefferson County Equitable Fines and Fees Project, Alabama

Stepehen Wallace, Circuit Judge, Jefferson County, Birmingham, Alabama

Resources:

Coverage of Aug. 2024 Releases

https://aldailynews.com/court-fee-system-inefficient-discriminatory-research-finds/

https://aldailynews.com/column-crime-and-garnishment/

https://aldailynews.com/capitol-journal-september-13-2024/

Oct. 2024 paper with IBM

https://krvarshney.github.io/pubs/LaraYejasJMNSTNBV_aies2024.pdf

Aug. 2024 with MDRC

https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/JeffCoFines%26Fees_Brief_FInal.pdf

Background reading on--

Brookside (the Ferguson of Alabama): https://www.al.com/bankingoncrime/

Alabama tax policy and how the Alabama constitution encourages reliance on fines and fees: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/opinion/alabama-fines-fees.html

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

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