Monetary sanctions in the criminal legal system are legally and procedurally complex. If not paid in a timely manner, a single conviction can result in multiple legal financial obligations, varying in kind, payment procedure, and consequences. This study examines how, and the extent to which, criminal legal debtors understand monetary sanctions. Based on interviews with 60 individuals who owed criminal legal debt in New York, we propose a typology of debtor understanding. Proximal understanding pertains to individual, case-level factors and is instrumentally oriented. Distal understanding concerns system-level matters and is oriented toward normativity and fairness. We examine how debtors develop each type of understanding, how these dimensions interact, and the implications of debtor understanding for compliance behavior.

中文翻译：

---

货币制裁迷宫中的导航：刑事法律债务人的理解与困惑

刑事法律系统中的货币制裁在法律和程序上都很复杂。如果不及时支付，一次定罪可能导致多项法律财务义务，种类、支付程序和后果各不相同。本研究考察了刑事法律债务人如何以及在多大程度上理解货币制裁。基于对 60 名在纽约欠下刑事法律债务的人的采访，我们提出了债务人理解的类型。近端理解与个人、案例层面的因素有关，并且以工具为导向。远端理解涉及系统层面的问题，面向规范性和公平性。我们研究债务人如何发展每种类型的理解、这些维度如何相互作用以及债务人理解对合规行为的影响。