In today’s American criminal legal system, courts impose fines and fees as a means to punish people and hold them accountable for legal violations.But these fines and fees are often levied without any consideration for an individual’s ability to pay – and can add up to thousands of dollars. Given the potential consequences of legal debt on people unable to pay, including the loss of the right to vote and further criminal infractions, we conducted a multistate study on the impact of fines and fees.