Poverty Penalties and Poverty Traps

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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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New York N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 420.35(1) Mandatory surcharge and crime victim assistance fee; applicability to sentences mandating payment of fines
 The provisions of section 420.10 of this article governing the collection of fines and the provisions of section 420.40 of this article governing deferral of mandatory surcharges, sex offender registration fees, DNA databank fees
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and financial hardship hearings and the provisions of section 430.20 of this chapter governing the commitment of a defendant for failure to pay a fine shall be applicable to a mandatory surcharge, sex offender registration fee, DNA databank fee and a crime victim assistance fee imposed pursuant to subdivision one of section 60.35 of the penal law, subdivision twenty-a of section three hundred eighty-five of the vehicle and traffic law, subdivision nineteen-a of section four hundred one of the vehicle and traffic law, or a mandatory surcharge imposed pursuant to section eighteen hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law or section 27.12 of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law. When the court directs that the defendant be imprisoned until the mandatory surcharge, sex offender registration fee or DNA databank fee is satisfied, it must specify a maximum period of imprisonment not to exceed fifteen days; provided, however, a court may not direct that a defendant be imprisoned until the mandatory surcharge, sex offender registration fee, or DNA databank fee is satisfied or otherwise for failure to pay the mandatory surcharge, sex offender registration fee or DNA databank fee unless the court makes a contemporaneous finding on the record, after according defendant notice and an opportunity to be heard, that the payment of the mandatory surcharge, sex offender registration fee or DNA databank fee upon defendant will not work an unreasonable hardship upon him or her or his or her immediate family.
Incarceration All No
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New York N.Y. Judiciary Law § 753 Power of Courts to punish Civil Contempts
A. A court of record has power to punish, by fine and imprisonment, or either, a neglect or violation of duty, or other misconduct, by which a right or remedy
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of a party to a civil action or special proceeding, pending in the court may be defeated, impaired, impeded, or prejudiced, in any of the following cases: 3. A party to the action or special proceeding, an attorney, counsellor, or other person, for the non-payment of a sum of money, ordered or adjudged by the court to be paid, in a case where by law execution can not be awarded for the collection of such sum except as otherwise specifically provided by the civil practice law and rules; or for any other disobedience to a lawful mandate of the court.
Incarceration All No
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New York N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 420.10(1)(c) Payment as condition of probation
Where the defendant is sentenced to a period of probation as well as a fine, restitution or reparation and such designated surcharge, the court may direct the payment of the
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fine, restitution or reparation and such designated surcharge be a condition of the sentence
Condition or extension of supervision All No
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New York N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 420.10(3) Imprisonment for failure to pay
 Imprisonment for failure to pay. Where the court imposes a fine, restitution or reparation, the sentence may provide that if the defendant fails to pay the fine, restitution or reparation
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in accordance with the direction of the court, the defendant must be imprisoned until the fine, restitution or reparation is satisfied. Such provision may be added at the time sentence is pronounced or at any later date while the fine, restitution or reparation or any part thereof remains unpaid; provided, however, that if the provision is added at a time subsequent to the pronouncement of sentence the defendant must be personally present when it is added. In any case where the defendant fails to pay a fine, restitution or reparation as directed the court may issue a warrant directing a peace officer, acting pursuant to his special duties, or a police officer, to take him into custody and bring him before the court; provided, however, if the court in which the warrant is returnable is a city, town or village court, and such court is not available, and the warrant is addressed to a police officer, such executing police officer must without unnecessary delay bring the defendant before an alternate local criminal court, as provided in subdivision five of section 120.90 of this chapter; or if the court in which the warrant is returnable is a superior court, and such court is not available, and the warrant is addressed to a police officer, such executing police officer may bring the defendant to the local correctional facility of the county in which such court sits, to be detained there until not later than the commencement of the next session of such court occurring on the next business day. Such warrant may also be delegated in the same manner as a warrant pursuant to section 530.70 of this chapter. Where a sentence provides that the defendant be imprisoned for failure to pay a fine, the court shall advise the defendant that if he is unable to pay such fine, he has a right, at any time, to apply to the court to be resentenced as provided in subdivision five of this section.
Incarceration All No
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Hawaii Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-644(1) Consequences of nonpayment; imprisonment for contumacious nonpayment; summary collection

(1) When a defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 706-605, granted a conditional discharge pursuant to section 712-1255, or granted a deferred plea pursuant to chapter 853, and the defendant

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is ordered to pay a fee, fine, or restitution, whether as an independent order, as part of a judgment and sentence, or as a condition of probation or deferred plea, and the defendant defaults in the payment thereof or of any installment, the court, upon the motion of the prosecuting attorney or upon its own motion, may require the defendant to show cause why the defendant's default should not be treated as contumacious and may issue a summons or a warrant of arrest for the defendant's appearance. Unless the defendant shows that the defendant's default was not attributable to an intentional refusal to obey the order of the court, or to a failure on the defendant's part to make a good faith effort to obtain the funds required for the payment, the court shall find that the defendant's default was contumacious and may order the defendant committed until the fee, fine, restitution, or a specified part thereof is paid.

Incarceration All No
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Hawaii Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-642(2) Time and method of payment

(2) When a defendant sentenced to pay a fine is also sentenced to probation, the court may make the payment of the fine a condition of probation.

Condition or extension of supervision All No
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Hawaii Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-644(3) Consequences of nonpayment; imprisonment for contumacious nonpayment; summary collection

(3) The term of imprisonment for nonpayment of fee, fine, or restitution shall be specified in the order of commitment, and shall not exceed one day for each $25 of

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the fee or fine, thirty days if the fee or fine was imposed upon conviction of a violation or a petty misdemeanor, or one year in any other case, whichever is the shorter period. A person committed for nonpayment of a fee or fine shall be given credit toward payment of the fee or fine for each day of imprisonment, at the rate of $25 per day.

Incarceration All No
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Hawaii Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-630 Probation: Discharge of defendant

Upon the termination of the period of the probation or the earlier discharge of the defendant, the defendant shall be relieved of any obligations imposed by the order of the

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court and shall have satisfied the disposition of the court, except as to any action under this chapter to collect unpaid fines, restitution, attorney’s fees, costs, or interest.

Condition or extension of supervision Misdemeanor, Felony No
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Idaho Idaho code § 18-303 Common Law Offenses -- Punishment -- Imprisonment for Nonpayment of Fine

All offenses recognized by the common law as crimes and not herein enumerated are punishable, in case of felony, by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not less

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than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years; and in case of misdemeanors, by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding six (6) months or less than one (1) month, or by fine not exceeding $500, or both such fine and imprisonment. And whenever any fine is imposed for any felony or misdemeanor, whether such be by statute or at common law and the party upon whom the fine is imposed has the ability to pay said fine, the party upon whom the fine is imposed shall be committed to the county jail, when not sentenced to the state prison, until the fine is paid.

Incarceration All Yes
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Idaho Idaho Code § 20-225 Payment for Cost of Supervision

Any person under state probation or parole supervision shall be required to contribute not more than seventy-five dollars ($ 75.00) per month as determined by the board of correction. Costs

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of supervision are the direct and indirect costs incurred by the department of correction to supervise probationers and parolees, including tests to determine drug and alcohol use, books and written materials to support rehabilitation efforts, and monitoring of physical location through the use of technology. Any failure to pay such contribution shall constitute grounds for the revocation of probation by the court or the revocation of parole by the commission for pardons and parole. The division of probation and parole in the department of correction may exempt a person from the payment of all or any part of the foregoing contribution if it finds any of the following factors to exist: (1)  The offender has diligently attempted but been unable to obtain employment. (2)  The offender has a disability affecting employment, as determined by a physical, psychological or psychiatric examination acceptable to the division of probation and parole.

Condition or extension of supervision All No
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Idaho Idaho Code § 20-624 Imprisonment for Fine

Whenever any defendant is confined solely for willful non-payment of any fine, the court, may, in lieu of payment, confine such person at the rate of thirty-five dollars ($ 35.00)

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per day until the fine imposed is satisfied.

Incarceration, Increased fine All No
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Idaho Idaho Code § 19-5304 Restitution for Crime Victims -- Orders to be Separate -- When Restitution is not Appropriate -- Other Remedies -- Evidentiary Hearings -- Definitions

Unless the court determines that an order of restitution would be inappropriate or undesirable, it shall order a defendant found guilty of any crime which results in an economic loss

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to the victim to make restitution to the victim. An order of restitution shall be a separate written order in addition to any other sentence the court may impose, including incarceration, and may be complete, partial, or nominal. The court may also include restitution as a term and condition of judgment of conviction; however, if a court orders restitution in the judgment of conviction and in a separate written order, a defendant shall not be required to make restitution in an amount beyond that authorized by this chapter. Restitution shall be ordered for any economic loss which the victim actually suffers. The existence of a policy of insurance covering the victim's loss shall not absolve the defendant of the obligation to pay restitution.

Condition or extension of supervision All No