‘Price of Justice’ report says rural, low-income and BIPOC Oregonians suffer disproportionate financial burden in court

The Oregon justice system imposes fees, fines and restitution on people found guilty of a wide range of crimes. These different kinds of financial penalties are having a severe and disproportionate impact on people of color and those in low- income neighborhoods and rural communities, according to a new report called “The Price of Justice in Oregon.” The broad look at jurisdictions all over the state was years in the making and resulted from the combined efforts of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, the Policy Advocacy Clinic at the UC Berkeley School of Law, and the Portland-based CLEAR Clinic, which provides free legal services to Oregonians. We get more details and the report’s policy recommendations from Portlander Gus Patel-Tupper with the UC Berkeley School of Law.