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Going through Tennessee’s legal system can be expensive. And now an influential group is questioning the fairness of courtroom fees and fines, and will examine whether the costs are hindering equal access to justice.
The trend has been toward higher and more numerous, said Diane Di Ianni, chairwoman of the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
“As this penal debt accumulates, it can actually put folks … in a hole,” she said. “If they’re incarcerated, it makes any kind of re-entry into society more taxing.”
Her nonpartisan committee has issued two meaty reports in recent years, first on Tennessee’s rules governing how ex-felons can restore their voting rights, and then on civil asset forfeiture. After gathering research and public comments, the report will eventually go to the U.S. Commission and have the chance of being reviewed by members of Congress.
Di Ianni said the committee will research what fees exist, which agencies create them, and how they vary among counties. As examples, she noted the $300 standard fee that criminal defendants pay to go through the system, as well as smaller costs related to incarceration while awaiting a trial.
Civil courts can also include costly fees, she said, raising a question of whether “having your day in court” is equally accessible to all people.
Di Ianni said the timing is right for such a study, especially because of a federal court ruling this summer that found Tennessee’s method of revoking driver’s licenses was unconstitutional.
Her committee will also look at possible alternatives to fees — like in Knoxville, where court clerks can assign community service hours in place of fees for indigent defendants.
Public comments will be gathered at a Jan. 8 meeting at the downtown Nashville library. Experts, legislators, attorneys and people who have gone through the justice system will speak on a series of panels beginning at 9:45 a.m., with open public comments received twice, at noon and 4 p.m.
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