• Media type: E-Book
  • Title: Laffer's Day in Court : The Revenue Effects of Criminal Justice Fees and Fines
  • Contributor: Norris, Samuel [VerfasserIn]; Rose, Evan K. [VerfasserIn]
  • Corporation: National Bureau of Economic Research
  • imprint: Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2023
  • Published in: NBER working paper series ; no. w31806
  • Extent: 1 Online-Ressource; illustrations (black and white)
  • Language: English
  • Keywords: Straftäter ; Gerichtsbarkeit ; Rechtsprechung ; Gebühr ; USA ; Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue ; Arbeitspapier ; Graue Literatur
  • Reproduction note: Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers
  • Origination:
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  • Description: Many jurisdictions levy sizable fines and fees (legal financial obligations, or LFOs) on criminal defendants. Proponents argue LFOs are a "tax on crime" that funds courts and provides deterrence; opponents argue they do neither. We examine the fiscal implications of lowering LFOs. Incentives to default generate a "Laffer" curve with revenue eventually decreasing in LFOs. Using detailed administrative data, however, we find few defendants demonstrably on the right-hand side of the curve. Those who are tend to be poor, Black, and charged with felonies. As a result, decreasing LFOs for the average defendant would come at substantial cost to governments