There has not been an empirical study of the fines, costs, and restitution imposed by Pennsylvania courts in criminal cases. Among the seemingly basic questions that have remained unanswered are the average amounts imposed in cases, how long it takes defendants to pay that money, and how long court debt remains uncollected. The ACLU of Pennsylvania has taken the first step to answer these questions by looking at ten years of court data from the Common Pleas Case Management System (“CPCMS”) used by Pennsylvania’s courts of common pleas and the Philadelphia Municipal Court. We have released preliminary reports on court costs and fines. Later this year, we anticipate receiving updated and more complete data that will allow us to release a more comprehensive study of this topic.
Read the preliminary report on costs here:
Imposition and Collection of Court Costs in Pennsylvania Criminal Cases: Preliminary Results from an Analysis of 10 Years of Court Data
By: Colin Sharpe, Jon Dilks, and Andrew Christy ACLU of Pennsylvania, November 13, 2018 (additional tables added March 1, 2019)
Read the preliminary report on fines here:
Imposition and Collection of Fines in Pennsylvania Criminal Cases: Preliminary Results from an Analysis of 10 Years of Court Data
By: Colin Sharpe, Andrew Christy ACLU of Pennsylvania, Jeffrey T. Ward, Ph.D, February 28, 2019