; Whereas the total cost of the mass incarceration crisis, including the costs to those incarcerated and their families, is nearly $182 billion per year; Whereas the burden to pay for the Nation’s mass incarceration crisis too often falls upon everyday people trapped in cycles of poverty and intergenerational trauma, and statistical mechanisms to comprehensively quantify the ongoing and generational effects of carceral trauma are limited and oftentimes unknown; Whereas nearly a half a million people are in jails without having been convicted, often because of an inability to afford cash bail, which leads to an increased likelihood of conviction and lengthier sentences; Whereas in order to finance the mass incarceration system, many cities, States, courts, and prosecutors levy hefty fines at nearly every stage of the criminal justice process, including— (1) fines and fees for being arrested; (2) lawyer fees; (3) crime lab fees and victim assessments; (4) fees to enter a diversion or substance use disorder treatment program; or (5) fees to pay for public and private probation supervision; Whereas people leave jails and prison owing an average of $13,607 in fines and fees, and an inability to pay can lead to being denied the right to vote, license suspension, additional fines and fees, and even further incarceration; Whereas the policy decisions that led to the incarceration crisis, as well as the unjust economic burden to sustain the system, caused inestimable, intergenerational, and disproportionate harm to communities; Whereas one in two adults in America has had a family member in jail or prison, and one in five has had a parent incarcerated; Whereas nearly 65 percent of families with an incarcerated or detained family member are unable to meet basic needs, including housing, health, food, and employment; Whereas children with an incarcerated parent are nearly six times more likely to be expelled from school and increasingly less likely to graduate from college than children without incarcerated parents