Honest History: How Fines and Fees Came to Harm Black Communities in Virginia

Virginia’s criminal legal system should advance justice, treat people fairly, and promote rehabilitation. However, an honest look at our history shows that Virginia’s system has never lived up to that ideal. 

Laws and policies that targeted people who were formerly enslaved fostered poverty, distrust, and discrimination, and they intensified the economic, social, and emotional harm against Black Virginians. While explicitly racist laws might not be as obvious today, their effects persist when the implementation of a law results in unfair treatment, even when it appears neutral, depriving many Black people of their right to participate in our democracy, also known as disenfranchisement. 

Among other harmful outcomes within the criminal legal system, courts and jurisdictions fund part of their operating costs through fines and fees. Accordingly, the burden of financing these systems then falls on criminalized people, who are often least able to afford to pay, rather than treating court services as general government services funded by general tax dollars. This has created cycles of debt that hinder people’s ability to build stable lives post-incarceration. 

The history that has been handed down to us is traumatic. With a more thorough understanding of the key origins and evolution of the criminal legal system, we may then begin to understand the harmful role that court fines and fees play in criminalizing poverty, disenfranchising, and discriminating against Black Virginians and, together, we can reshape our future.

Explore the following sections

• Separate and Unequal: History of Virginia Criminal Laws, Courts, and Practices
• Proliferation of Fines and Fees and Their Impact on Black Virginians
• Recent Reforms and Conclusion

Acknowlegements

The Commonwealth Institute would like to acknowledge and extend sincere thanks to current and former TCI staff Levi Goren and Haleigh Sinclair for writing significant sections of this report and to Michael Mitchell at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for providing additional feedback.