Too costly: Predatory court fees are crushing Nebraska children & families
Recent report highlights harms in Cornhusker State, where proposed bill would bring much-needed reform
By Ray Durham, Attorney at the National Center for Youth Law
Karolina Yoder was just 14 years old when she was sent to truancy court and effectively labeled a criminal.
Although Karolina had a medical condition to explain her missed school days, she was charged with truancy after more than 20 absences, a status offense under Nebraska law. She spent the next four years reporting to probation, an arrangement that required her to comply with drug testing. Nevermind that her offense — truancy — had nothing to do with drugs.
After complying with the terms of her probation, and only a week before her scheduled discharge, Karolina was hit with an unexpected surprise: In addition to everything else, she’d also need to pay nearly $300 to cover court fees and the cost of her drug tests. Unable to pay this fee, she was unsatisfactorily discharged from probation. This meant she was ineligible to expunge her record, effectively classifying her as a criminal to potential employers, law enforcement agencies and others.
All because she couldn’t afford to pay.
Karolina’s story, unfortunately, isn’t rare. She’s among thousands of children and youth who are burdened with court costs in Nebraska’s juvenile legal system. These fees have widespread damaging impacts on youth and families, as highlighted in a recent report co-authored by the National Center for Youth Law and Voices for Children. It’s beyond time Nebraska joins more than 20 other states and localities, and puts an end to this predatory practice that has ensnared so many lives.
Fortunately, legislative help could be on the way.
The harms of Nebraska court costs
Children and families across Nebraska were charged more than $413,000 in court costs from 2019 to 2022, according to the report, which highlights the cascading harms of these costs, like higher recidivism rates, longer probationary periods, and increased interaction with the juvenile legal system.
Court costs also damage children’s emotional and mental health. Voices for Children of Nebraska interviewed 12 youth who had experienced these costs, gaining insight into the devastating harms caused by them. One child quoted in the report described feeling “hopeless” and like the “system did not care” after experiencing these court costs.
Eroding trust in the system
Given the experiences of many various groups of marginalized children, it’s unsurprising that court costs cause such devastation in children’s lives, as well as to their views of the court system as a whole.
Many Black, Brown, Indigenous and impoverished children experience simultaneous abandonment and exploitation by government systems. Black, Brown, and Indigenous youth are more likely to be stopped by police, arrested, charged, and convicted. They’re more likely to grow up in communities with high eviction rates and a lack of educational and financial resources.
Children in rural communities are also disproportionately harmed.
In fact, inequities experienced by rural children can overlap with the same inequities experienced by other children in marginalized communities. Rural children often lack court resources, exist in “legal desserts”, and have non-specialized judges overseeing their cases. Larger, urban-city judges are more likely to be specialized in youth law, making them more likely to adopt and support more child-centered policies, like waivers for court costs, while rural children are subject to judges who treat children like adults, resulting in more punitive outcomes.
Reinforcing a familiar narrative
For many children in these communities, court costs only reinforce a familiar narrative — that they’re stuck in cycles of poverty and incarceration, and that these systems don’t care. Or, as in Karolina’s experience with unnecessary drug tests, they’re only viewed as likely law-breakers.
“When you impose fees and fines on youth, you’re imposing those costs on their future.” — Ray Durham, as quoted by WOWT News.
A growing body of evidence confirms that court costs erode trust in government systems.
For instance, municipalities that collect a greater share of their revenue from fines, fees, and asset forfeitures compromise their ability to solve violent and property crimes, according to a recently published study. The study points to the public’s lack of trust in and cooperation with law enforcement systems when police engage in fee and fine collection. Another study indicates that an increase in court fees and fines decreases democratic participation by Black voters. And research analyzing the neighborhood impact of court costs shows that poorer, less-White neighborhoods bear a disproportionate share of these costs.
Nebraska is no different
Data shows that Nebraska is no different. Although Black people make up just 5% of the state population, they account for 20% of arrestees, according to a study published by University of Nebraska at Omaha. The study found that Indigenous people were similarly overrepresented, accounting for 3% of arrestees but just 1% of the population. And rural youth often don’t have access to counsel, diversionary resources, or child-care.
Court costs only exacerbate and deepen these harms. They’re a key part of a system that works to exploit communities, doling out unequal judgments depending on what someone looks like or where they live.
Opportunity for reform
The good news: Nebraska has a great opportunity this year to provide relief to thousands of children and families involved in its court systems. This legislative session, Sen. Wendy DeBoer introduced Legislative Bill 1089, which would prohibit courts in Nebraska from charging court costs to youth 19 and younger or their parents or guardians.
This is a great first step. By eliminating court fees, the bill would remove one more barrier that perpetuates a cycle of poverty, criminalization, and oppression for marginalized Nebraska youth and communities.
Eliminating court fees isn’t the only step that needs to be taken to heal and liberate communities, but it’s a powerful step with great weight and impact.
Ray Durham is an Attorney at the National Center for Youth Law. Ray works on the Justice and Equity and Legal Advocacy teams with a particular focus on the criminalization of poverty, the school-to-prison pipeline, and provision of services for students with disabilities in K-12 settings.
