"Beyond Punishment: Inmates Saddled with Fees"


Speaker David Lim, former Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, where county criminal justice fees have been abolished.

Because of shrinking budgets, local governments now pass many of the costs of running the criminal justice system onto defendants and their families.

These fees are in addition to fines incurred by the released inmates, and average close to $5000 in San Mateo County. The fees are for such services as:

Booking fees
Fingerprint fees
Pre-sentencing reports
Probation fees
Alcohol testing fees
Public defender fees
And many more.

Not only do these fees severely impact a released inmate's ability to rehabilitate and reintegrate himself into society, but collecting the fees presents a huge burden for the county -- a large percentage of the fees are never recovered.


Bring a friend and don't be late: as always, we'll start with dessert!

When: Wednesday, May 1, at 7:00 pm

Where: Woodside Road United Methodist Church, corner of Woodside Road and Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City

Contact: Ashleigh Evans at asevans2002@aol.
com