Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada

Traffic stops and tickets often have far-reaching consequences for poor and marginalized communities, yet resulting fines and fees increasingly fund local court systems. This paper critically explores who bears the brunt of traffic fines and fees in Nevada, historically one of the fastest growing an...

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Autores principales:	Foster Kamanga, Virginia Smercina, Barbara G. Brents, Daniel Okamura, Vincent Fuentes
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	monetary sanctions fines and fees court fees criminal justice policy racialized criminal justice policy racialized traffic fines and fees Social Sciences H
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/54cc9e67383b4ad3921ef8dea7b564d3
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:54cc9e67383b4ad3921ef8dea7b564d32021-11-25T18:59:53ZCosts and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada10.3390/socsci101104402076-0760https://doaj.org/article/54cc9e67383b4ad3921ef8dea7b564d32021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/11/440https://doaj.org/toc/2076-0760Traffic stops and tickets often have far-reaching consequences for poor and marginalized communities, yet resulting fines and fees increasingly fund local court systems. This paper critically explores who bears the brunt of traffic fines and fees in Nevada, historically one of the fastest growing and increasingly diverse states in the nation, and one of thirteen US states to prosecute minor traffic violations as criminal misdemeanors rather than civil infractions. Drawing on legislative histories, we find that state legislators in Nevada increased fines and fees to raise revenues. Using descriptive statistics to analyze the 2012–2020 open arrest warrants extracted from the Las Vegas Municipal Court, we find that 58.6% of all open warrants are from failure to pay tickets owing to administrative-related offenses—vehicle registration and maintenance, no license or plates, or no insurance. Those issued warrants for failure to pay are disproportionately for people who are Black and from the poorest areas in the region. Ultimately, the Nevada system of monetary traffic sanctions criminalizes poverty and reinforces racial disparities.Foster KamangaVirginia SmercinaBarbara G. BrentsDaniel OkamuraVincent FuentesMDPI AGarticlemonetary sanctionsfines and feescourt feescriminal justice policyracialized criminal justice policyracialized traffic fines and feesSocial SciencesHENSocial Sciences, Vol 10, Iss 440, p 440 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	monetary sanctions fines and fees court fees criminal justice policy racialized criminal justice policy racialized traffic fines and fees Social Sciences H
spellingShingle	monetary sanctions fines and fees court fees criminal justice policy racialized criminal justice policy racialized traffic fines and fees Social Sciences H Foster Kamanga Virginia Smercina Barbara G. Brents Daniel Okamura Vincent Fuentes Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada
description	Traffic stops and tickets often have far-reaching consequences for poor and marginalized communities, yet resulting fines and fees increasingly fund local court systems. This paper critically explores who bears the brunt of traffic fines and fees in Nevada, historically one of the fastest growing and increasingly diverse states in the nation, and one of thirteen US states to prosecute minor traffic violations as criminal misdemeanors rather than civil infractions. Drawing on legislative histories, we find that state legislators in Nevada increased fines and fees to raise revenues. Using descriptive statistics to analyze the 2012–2020 open arrest warrants extracted from the Las Vegas Municipal Court, we find that 58.6% of all open warrants are from failure to pay tickets owing to administrative-related offenses—vehicle registration and maintenance, no license or plates, or no insurance. Those issued warrants for failure to pay are disproportionately for people who are Black and from the poorest areas in the region. Ultimately, the Nevada system of monetary traffic sanctions criminalizes poverty and reinforces racial disparities.
format	article
author	Foster Kamanga Virginia Smercina Barbara G. Brents Daniel Okamura Vincent Fuentes
author_facet	Foster Kamanga Virginia Smercina Barbara G. Brents Daniel Okamura Vincent Fuentes
author_sort	Foster Kamanga
title	Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada
title_short	Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada
title_full	Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada
title_fullStr	Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada
title_full_unstemmed	Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada
title_sort	costs and consequences of traffic fines and fees: a case study of open warrants in las vegas, nevada
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/54cc9e67383b4ad3921ef8dea7b564d3
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Costs and Consequences of Traffic Fines and Fees: A Case Study of Open Warrants in Las Vegas, Nevada

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