During the 2008 economic recession, New York State created a mandatory court surcharge, a fee that every person convicted in a state or local court is required to pay. These fees were explicitly designed as revenue raisers with New York State attempting to fill its coffers off the backs of some of the poorest and most economically marginalized New Yorkers. To address this injustice, we launched the No Price on Justice campaign to end the practice of mandatory surcharges alongside the Fines and Fees Justice Center, the Fiscal Policy Institute, and Brooklyn Defender Services.
