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An assessment of court fees, surcharges, and penalties for alcohol-impaired driving in five midwestern U.S. states: implications for exacerbating poverty and health inequalities

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Abstract

Driving under the influence (DUI) remains an important threat to public health in the United States, and a substantial literature has evaluated the effectiveness of state-mandated penalties. Researchers have overlooked accelerated use of obscured fees and surcharges levied by local and state court systems added to penalties in the past 15 years. We present data regarding DUI penalties for offenders with a blood alcohol content (BAC of 0.08) and the fees and surcharges attached to them in Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa, and variation in these within Wisconsin at four BAC levels. In all states, surcharges and fees exceed penalty fines substantially. Variation within Wisconsin is also meaningful. Our data suggest that opaque costs in state court systems add a substantial financial burden to DUI penalties, particularly for those with lower incomes. An appraisal of the deterrent role of these added costs is warranted.

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Funding

This study received funding from NYU’s Global Center on Implementation Science. The funder had no role in the design, data collection, analysis or interpretation of findings, nor in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Policy and Management, NYU School of Global Public Health, 708 Broadway, New York, NY, 10006, USA

    Diana Silver, Jin Yung Bae & Elizabeth Furuya

  2. Departments of Community Sciences and Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    James Macinko

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  1. Diana Silver
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  2. Jin Yung Bae
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  3. Elizabeth Furuya
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  4. James Macinko
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Correspondence to Diana Silver.

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Silver, D., Bae, J.Y., Furuya, E. et al. An assessment of court fees, surcharges, and penalties for alcohol-impaired driving in five midwestern U.S. states: implications for exacerbating poverty and health inequalities. J Public Health Pol 45, 58–73 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-023-00454-1

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