Assemblywoman Ramirez renews call for N.J. to end $200 public defender fee

Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D-32) is renewing her call for the State of New Jersey to put an end to their $200 public defender fee, exclaiming “it’s time to end this two-tier system of justice.”

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“For decades, New Jersey has asked the poorest among us to pay for a right guaranteed to every American, which is the right to counsel,” she began in a statement.

“This $200 fee is not a formality. It’s a wall. It’s a choice between groceries or a defense, rent or representation. No one should have to buy their way into fairness.”

The fee, charged by many municipal courts as a prerequisite for public defender representation, brings in negligible revenue but traps thousands of residents, who are overwhelmingly Black, Latinx, and low-income, in cycles of debt and despair.

A new report from New Jersey Policy Perspective, The $200 Barrier to Justice, found that the fee produces virtually no fiscal benefit for cities while imposing enormous human costs.

Ramirez, a former contract attorney with the Office of the Public Defender, said the legislation is about restoring fairness, not excusing wrongdoing.

“In courtrooms across New Jersey, I’ve seen people waive their right to counsel because they couldn’t pay this fee. That’s not accountability, that’s desperation. No one should have to choose between food, rent, or a defense,” she added.

Key findings from the NJPP report underscore her point:

• In East Orange, municipal defender fees brought in only $3,523 in 2024 — 0.002% of the city’s budget.

• Nationally, collecting these fees costs more than 95% of what’s recovered.

• Black residents are 12 times more likely to be charged and convicted than white residents, and over half of Black and Latinx families in New Jersey struggle to meet basic needs.

In 2023, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed legislation eliminating public defender fees for felony cases. However, most low-level offenses are prosecuted in municipal court, where the $200 fee remains, therefore, Ramirez’s Bill A-5639 seeks to finish the job.

“This is about equal protection under the law. When a city makes money off the backs of those least able to pay, that’s not justice. That’s exploitation dressed up as bureaucracy,” she continued, praising Jersey City for leading the way by eliminating the fee locally.

“If we can do it here, we can do it statewide: No municipality should balance its books by taxing constitutional rights.”

The bill is supported by civil rights advocates, public defenders, and fiscal policy groups who agree that New Jersey’s justice system should not depend on a defendant’s wallet.

“Our state can’t claim to value fairness while forcing people to pay for it. It’s time to end this two-tier system of justice and make the promise of the Constitution real for everyone,” Ramirez concluded.