About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


2 Mod. Crim. L. Rev. 1 (2025-2026)

handle is hein.journals/mncllarw2 and id is 1 raw text is: Impoverished and Incarcerated: The Ethics of Converting Fines into Community Service Gustavo A. Beade* Many countries in Latin America regulate the conversion of fines into prison sentences. Fines require the convicted person to pay a specified amount as determined by the criminal sentence. If the fine is not paid within the established period, the individual may face im- prisonment for a duration ranging from six to eighteen months. However, some countries have introduced alternatives to prevent the incarceration of individuals who cannot afford to pay. When a person is sentenced to pay a fine but lacks the resources to do so, the court may first attempt to satisfy the penalty through the seizure of assets, wages, or other income. If this proves ineffective, the court may convert the fine into community service, requiring the convicted person to perform unpaid work for the benefit of the community or individ- uals in need. To avoid imprisonment, the individual must agree to and fulfill certain obligations. This conversion system inherently involves accepting that community service is a form of punishment. However, treating community service as a sentencing measure raises several con- cerns. First, it is essential to examine the objectives, functions, and limitations of community service in particular, especially when assessing its necessity and proportionality. Second, the justification for imposing such a penalty warrants scrutiny. In the context of severe socio- economic inequality, does the state have the moral standing to compel convicted individuals to work without compensation? If the state itself contributes to unemployment, thereby violating a fundamental right, how can it justify administering such penalties? In this paper, I will answer both these questions in the negative, and advocate for alternative approaches. I argue that the state lacks the moral standing to impose community service as a punitive measure. Instead of punitive community service, states should focus * Assistant Professor at Universidad Austral de Chile, School of Law. I would like to thank Juan Zelaya y Tomas Fernindez Fiks for comments to a previous version of the paper and Rocio Lorca and Santiago Roldin for helping me to develop many of these ideas. Gabriela Rodriguez de Anca helped me improve and polish my English writing style. I would like to thank the participants in the Between Modern Debtors' Prison & Modem Peonage workshop for their valuable comments and the editors of the Modern Criminal Law Review for the revisions. This article was written as part of the research project Fondecyt #1241747: El feminismo en la encrucijada entre lo nuevo y lo antiguo and the research project Fondecyt #11250220: Las disculpas como reparaci6n en el proceso penal. Un anilisis desde las teorias comunicativas del castigo penal. M CLR+ ISSN 2819-3636