Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

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Below are the poverty penalties and poverty traps that meet your search criteria. Many include a See related provisions prompt which searches our database for laws that may pertain to your result.

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State Statute Description/Statute Name Statutory language Type of poverty penalty or poverty trap Level of offense Mandatory
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 Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211D, § 2A(g) Proof of Indigency Required.

The court may authorize a person for whom counsel was appointed to perform community service in lieu of payment of the counsel fee. A person seeking to work off a

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counsel fee in community service shall perform 10 hours of community service, in a community service program administered by the administrative office of the trial court, for each $100 owed in legal counsel fees, which may be prorated. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a court proceeding shall not be terminated and the person shall not be discharged if the person owes any portion of the legal counsel fee imposed by this section. The clerk shall not release any bail posted on such court proceeding until the legal counsel fee is satisfied in accordance with this chapter.

 Community service, Property liens All No
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 South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. §22-3-800 Community service
Notwithstanding the limitations of Sections 17-25-100 and 24-21-410, after a conviction or plea for an offense within a magistrate's jurisdiction the magistrate at the time of sentence may suspend the
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imposition or execution of a sentence upon terms and conditions the magistrate considers appropriate, including imposing or suspending up to one hundred hours of community service, except where the amount of community service is established otherwise.
 Community service All No
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 South Carolina S.C. Code Ann. § 16-11-700(C)(3) Public service in lieu of payment
(3) The court, instead of payment of the monetary fine imposed for a violation of this section, may direct the substitution of additional litter-gathering labor or other form of public
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service, under the supervision of the court, as it may order because of physical or other incapacities not to exceed one hour for each five dollars of fine imposed.
 Community service Misdemeanor No

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