RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 On Thin Ice: Bureaucratic Processes of Monetary Sanctions and Job Insecurity
JF RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
FD Russell Sage Foundation
SP 113
OP 131
DO 10.7758/RSF.2020.6.1.05
VO 6
IS 1
A1 Michele Cadigan
A1 Gabriela Kirk
YR 2020
UL http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/6/1/113.abstract
AB Research on court-imposed monetary sanctions has not yet fully examined the impact that processes used to manage court debt have on individuals’ lives. Drawing from both interviews and ethnographic data in Illinois and Washington State, we examine how the court’s management of justice-related debt affect labor market experiences. We conceptualize these managerial practices as procedural pressure points or mechanisms embedded within these processes that strain individuals’ ability to access and maintain stable employment. We find that, as a result, courts undermine their own goal of recouping costs and trap individuals in a cycle of court surveillance.