Ohio communities collected more fines and fees than local governments in nearly every other state, according to a new report.
A Reason Foundation report that examined revenues generated through law enforcement by local governments, showed Ohio ranked seventh in the country in collecting the most fines and fees 2020.
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As Tennessee lawmakers continue to examine reforms in the criminal justice system, two recently released reports showed that the state is not collecting the proper data to evaluate the fines and fees collected from its court system.
Non-profit policy think tank Think Tennessee found that, despite a 2019 law requiring all courts to create a payment plan system for those who financially will have issues paying court fees, the law has been implemented inconsistently throughout the state.
“For Tennesseans who face an endless cycle of penalties due to an inability to pay court debt, the county where they live could determine whether they have access to a payment plan that could help them break free,” Think Tennessee wrote. “Moreover, court fines and fees have a disproportionate impact on people who are low-income, Black and/or rural, and the financial hardship they experience may lead to increased recidivism with more significant impacts for communities as a whole.
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While the state of California and multiple counties continue to settle with churches after imposing unconstitutional restrictions against them, one county is expanding its efforts to pursue damages against a church, claiming their worship services are a public nuisance.
In its latest request, filed Aug. 31, Calvary Chapel has asked the court to dismiss the public nuisance claim along with the $2.8 million in fines levied against it, arguing the county has not provided any evidence to support the accusation that the church has caused any harm to the public.
The battle between the county and the church began in late spring 2020 after the state and county encouraged residents to protest the death of George Floyd without numerical limitations or public health restrictions, even as the same authorities imposed severe constraints on houses of worship.
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A spring break celebration in Miami Beach, Florida led to over 100 partygoers being arrested over the weekend after a crowd became unruly, with two police officers being injured, as reported by CNN.
The incident took place on Friday night, where a crowd allegedly began surrounding and taunting a group of police officers. The Miami Beach Police Department’s official Twitter account described the crowd as “disorderly,” and said that pepper balls were used to disperse the crowd as dozens were arrested.
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Darren Taylor, who was convicted of murder and other charges, is suing the state of Ohio because a trial court refused to waive his fees after doing an analysis of his current earnings from his prison job, but did not do an analysis of his ability to pay these fines in the future. Taylor, who is serving 36 years to life, will be in his 80s when he gets out of prison.
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by Jason Hopkins The Trump administration is slapping fines on illegal immigrants who are ignoring court orders to leave the U.S. — one of them totals nearly half a million dollars. “It is the intention of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to order you pay a fine in the amount of $497,777,” read a June 25 ICE letter to Edith Espinal Moreno, a woman who has remained in Ohio despite an immigration judge ruling two years ago that she must leave. NPR first reported on the letter. An ICE spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation the agency is sending these notices to illegal immigrants. “The Immigration and Nationality Act grants U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement the authority to impose civil fines on aliens who have been ordered removed or granted voluntary departure and fail to depart the United States,” read an ICE statement to the DCNF Tuesday. The agency also pointed to a January 2017 executive order that called on the government to fine illegal aliens. Aliens who refuse a Justice Department Executive Office for Immigration Review order to leave the U.S. could receive a Notice of Intention to Fine, or NIF. They then are given a 30-day…
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