The burden of excessive LFOs often serves only one purpose for those expected to shoulder them — a heavy weight pulling them to the bottom of a large body of water.
The majority of people — including myself — who are incarcerated in the United States are already dealing with extreme poverty and the struggles that come with that. As are many of our loved ones. Having exceptionally high LFO debt owed to the state with predatory interest rates can become the very thing that never allows an individual to move on from a mistake made long ago. It becomes a tool of control by the state and Department of Corrections to keep us trapped within a system that often can feel inescapable.
Over my 21 years of incarceration, I've witnessed LFOs be weaponized against incarcerated people and our loved ones time and time again. Some examples of this are: resentencing and clemency hearings where LFOs are so high from the accrued interest that they became impossible to pay off, leading to a denial of a person’s clemency petition — regardless of them not being a threat to reenter society through the work they have accomplished on the inside. Or LFO deductions taken from money sent in by family, making it impossible to support a loved one on the inside [These deductions are no longer allowed, as of July 2023]. Leaving that person to go without basic necessities like hygiene products, as those are not provided by the state without accruing more debt. And upon release, LFOs can be the very burden that keeps a person tied to the carceral system and from moving on with rebuilding their life. In some cases, not paying your LFOs can lead to being sent back to prison no matter what the reason was that you missed the payment: rent, transportation, medical insurance, or food to survive.
Some of us have been lucky enough to find ways to reduce or pay off our LFOs, but that isn't the case for the majority of the incarcerated population. And if we truly want safer communities and people to succeed upon their release, we shouldn't continue to place them in a position of having to pay, at times, an impossible debt. If a person was indigent at the start, how has that changed after years or decades of incarceration? We need to place people back into our communities with support and resources, not the burden of debt.
Christopher Blackwell, 43, is an award-winning journalist currently incarcerated in Washington, serving a 45-year prison sentence. He is the cofounder and executive director of Look2Justice, a grassroots organization of system-impacted organizers working to cultivate justice, fairness, and accountability in Washington State's criminal legal system through research, public education, and advocacy that leads with racial equity. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and many more. You can read more of his work at: www.christopher-blackwell.com or follow him on X @chriswblackwell.