Fines, Fees, and You: Progress in the First State

The Campaign to End Debtors' Prison, in partnership with Friendship House, Delaware Center for Justice, Network Delaware, the League of Women Voters of Delaware, YWCA Delaware, and Tide Shift Justice Project, invite you to hear about the progress Delaware has made in alleviating the financial burdens imposed on justice-involved Delawareans through criminal legal system fines and fees and to explore what work is still to be done.
In 2021, the National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law School ranked Delaware near last in a ranking of states fines and fees policies and practices. In 2022, with the passing of an omnibus fines and fees reform bill, Delaware moved from 47th to 23rd. In 2024, Delaware made still further progress, passing a set of "fee elimination bills" that removed these costs from being imposed on our most vulnerable populations while simultaneously stabilizing funding for vital government services.
Hear from a panel of experts to learn more about where Delaware started, how far we've come, and what may lie in our future.
Speakers include:
Attorney General Kathy Jennings
Priya Sarathy Jones, Fines and Fees Justice Center
Rebecka Ash, Delaware advocate
Meryem Dede, Campaign to End Debtors' Prison
And moderated by U.S. Representative Sarah McBride