Researchers in New York and eight other states have found that financial punishments meted out for offenses ranging from traffic violations and misdemeanors to felony convictions vary widely across the states and are becoming more common. They also found wide variation in the amount of the fees and the circumstances in which they’re imposed.
“What monetary sanction you get can depend on where you are, not only in the country, but which county, which courthouse, and even which judge,” said CUNY’s Karin Martin, a professor of Public Management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the lead investigator.
Martin and her fellow New York researchers are able to share data for their five-year study by using NYSERNet’s R&E network.