Over seven million Americans are either incarcerated, on probation, or on parole, with their criminal records often following them for life and affecting access to higher education, jobs, and housing. Court-ordered monetary sanctions that compel criminal defendants to pay fines, fees, surcharges, and restitution further inhibit their ability to reenter society.

A new book from the Russell Sage Foundation, A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor, analyzes the rise of monetary sanctions in the criminal justice system and shows how they permanently marginalize the poor. Author Alexes Harris exposes the damaging effects of a little-understood component of criminal sentencing and shows how it further perpetuates racial and economic inequality.

Harris, who investigated court practices in Washington state for over eight years, reveals how fees for public defenders and other processing charges—known as legal financial obligations (LFOs) in the court system—penalize low-income defendants. Until these debts are paid in full, individuals remain under judicial supervision, subject to court summons, warrants, and jail stays. As a result of interest and surcharges that accumulate on unpaid financial penalties, these monetary sanctions often become insurmountable legal debts which many offenders carry for the remainder of their lives.

In her research, Harris shows that because Washington charges 12% interest and an annual $100 collection fee, legal debts continue to build even when defendants make regular payments. As the graph below shows, an individual making the minimum monthly payment ($5) on the average LFO amount sentenced in Washington ($1,347) would accumulate an additional debt of nearly $500 after five years.

Furthermore, Harris finds that in some Washington counties, the average legal debt can be as high as $9,000 for individuals with multiple felony convictions. Even if such individuals were to make monthly payments of $100—an unrealistic sum for the low-income respondents Harris interviewed—they would still owe the court system over $7,000 after five years. As Harris recently told the Atlantic, “Jurisdictions are imposing a great deal of fines and fees on people who have an inability to pay them. A consequence is that people are permanently tethered to the criminal-justice system, are being issued warrants and summons to court, and are being held accountable for their poverty.”

Click here to read more about A Pound of Flesh or purchase a copy of the book.