Enforcing Poverty: Oklahoma’s Reliance on Fines & Fees Fuels the State’s In...
Event Information
Description
The Criminal Justice Project for the Lawyers’ Committee presents, Enforcing Poverty: Oklahoma’s Reliance on Fines & Fees Fuels the State’s Incarceration CrisisEnforcing Poverty: “How Fines & Fees Influence Oklahoma’s High Incarceration Rates, a panel discussion about Oklahoma’s practice of funding its public justice system almost entirely by levying heavy fines and multiple fees against the those accused and convicted of crimes, a population composed largely of the state’s poorest residents. The panelists will further address Oklahoma’s practice of generating revenue for municipal payments by incarcerating people who owe fines and fees. This approach to “forcing payment” the practice of incarcerating people who owe fees and fines as a method of “forcing” payment and thereby generating revenue for municipal budgets, has criminalized poverty, expanded mass incarceration, and increased economic inequality in the State of Oklahoma.
Panelist:
Tara Mikkilineni, Senior Attorney, Civil Rights Corps
Priya Sarathy Jones, National Campaign Director, Fines & Fees Justice Center
Juliene James, Director of Criminal Justice, Arnold Ventures
Robert Friedman, Georgetown University, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection
Myesha Braden, Project Director, Criminal Justice Project, Lawyers’ Committee.
This panel will be moderated by Leah Watson, Counsel, Criminal Justice Project.
This event will occur at 1500 K Street, Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20005 at 4:00 pm. Refreshments will be served.