A Qualitative Analysis of the Use of Legal Financial Obligations in the Criminal Justice System in a Middle Tennessee Judicial District
Abstract
The imposition of legal financial obligations (LFOs) in the American legal system has become common to all jurisdictions, and the monetary amounts of these have increased rather dramatically. The trend began in the 1990s, when crime increased. The cost of processing larger dockets led governments to use LFOs to finance the system. The consequences of this practice have included the placing of large financial burdens on impoverished defendants, leading to devastating effects on their lives. Numerous studies have cataloged these negative effects. The purpose of this thesis is to examine this situation from the perspectives of attorneys who represent indigent clients in a single judicial district of Tennessee, using qualification analysis. The results of this study added to the generalization of determinations produced in prior research. Additionally, the study found that attorney experience varied according to which judges were involved in the process.
Subject Area
Criminology
Recommended Citation
Richard H Dunavant,
"A Qualitative Analysis of the Use of Legal Financial Obligations in the Criminal Justice System in a Middle Tennessee Judicial District"
(2019).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI22584600.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI22584600