Criminal charges against Colorado residents are challenging for a number of reasons. We duly note at the long-established Denver criminal defense law firm of Shazam Kianpour & Associates that individuals routinely face charges “that threaten their livelihood, their reputation, their family and their freedom.”
And we underscore this on our firm website as well: Those charges liberally range across a vast universe of possibilities. Attorneys at a full-service defense firm diligently defend clients in matters ranging from traffic offenses, drug crimes and sex charges to alleged financial wrongdoing, assault, drunk driving and more.
Today’s post focuses on one specific charging detriment, namely, the above-cited threat to an individual’s livelihood. Criminal law stories often highlight conviction details surrounding prison terms. It is often just as much the case, though, that an imposed sentence proves devastating for a defendant from a financial aspect.
A recent article authored by the Vera Institute of Justice prominently drives home that point. Researchers from that criminal justice reform group spotlight the often “extraordinary economic challenges facing Americans caught in the criminal legal system.”
The prolonged health pandemic has of course ratcheted up financial difficulties for legions of individuals and families facing legal challenges. Yet even in “normal” times, notes Vera, “millions of people struggle to pay criminal justice fines and fees.”
Those exactions can quickly break the bank. Varied and cumulative assessments in a criminal law case – court fees, fines, penalties on tardy/missed payments and so forth – can easily spike to thousands of dollars and promote a vicious cycle of penury and unremitting challenge.
Proven and empathetic defense attorneys know that. Aggressive and knowledgeable advocacy for a client will always focus on the fullest mitigation of every potential downside in a case.
Notably, that includes strong efforts to minimize and eliminate where possible financial penalties.