Resources/Media

Press Release - Jan. 29, 2024: Unprecedented Consensus Among Criminal Justice Community for Next Steps in Fines and Fees Reform
(PDF)

Final Report of the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group
(PDF)

Records of Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group created by HB 244

National Center for Access to Justice, “Towards a Debt-Free 2023: Lessons and Opportunities in Fines and Fees Reform”, presented by the National Center for Access to Justice, December 21, 2022. Meryem Dede, Co-Coordinator of CEDP, speaking on HB 244 along with advocates from New York and the NACJ.

Meryem Dede, Guest Opinion: Ending justice fines against children is a start, more reform needed, December 2, 2022

Text and summary of HB 244, signed into law October 2022

Fact Sheet: Fines and Fees in Delaware, A Call to Action by the Campaign to End Debtors' Prison, March 2022 (PDF)

Letter to the Joint Finance Committee of the Delaware General Assembly in support of HB244 with HA1, February 17, 2022 (PDF)

Meryem Dede, “Blood from a Turnip: How Delaware’s Misdemeanors Compound Poverty (and How to Fix It),” DSBA Journal, June 2020, pp. 33-34

“Punished for Being Poor,” a video produced for the Campaign to End Debtors’ Prison by More Perfect Union, 2020

National Center for Access to Justice, Justice Index: Fines and Fees, 2020—Delaware ranked 47th in the nation, with a score of 8 out of 100

Fines and Fees Justice Center

National Center for Access to Justice

American Bar Association: Ten Guidelines on Court Fines and Fees
(PDF)

Brennan Center for Justice: The Steep Costs of Criminal Justice Fees and Fines

*Note that Resources and Media created before HB 244 was signed into law in October 2022 do not reflect the reforms made by that bill and should be read with those reforms in mind (see Successes to Date for a summary of key provisions of this bill). Despite this, resources and media that predate HB 244 remain a good source of general information to support your advocacy for fines and fees reform.