In a recession economy, all of us – including government agencies – are doing what we can to make ends meet, and that includes states' legal systems. A new report released by NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice reveals that states are imposing new court fees for individuals with criminal convictions. The fees are described as “user fees,” as they are not the traditional obligations levied for punishment, deterrence, or rehabilitation. Instead, these fees serve only to pay back the court system as it attempts to recoup operational costs.

In 1936, Atlanta, Georgia, built the nation's first housing project. Soon, more of the city's population lived in the projects than in any other city in the nation. Now, Atlanta is set to knock all the big projects down and become the first big city without projects. The U.S. House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity is holding hearings today on the future of housing. In light of Atlanta's move (and the plans of other big cities like Chicago, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles), we are looking at whether public housing projects have a future. To discuss this issue is Renee L. Glover, the president and CEO of Atlanta's Housing Authority, and Representative Maxine Waters, the Democrat from California, who is the Chairwoman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.

For more, the AP has put together a video essay on Atlanta's move away from public housing:

The U.S. government is seeking thousands of volunteers, from babies to the elderly, to roll up their sleeves for the first clinical trials of an H1N1 flu vaccine. The race is on to test whether a new vaccine really will protect against this virus before its expected rebound in the fall. Will the vaccines work? Will there be enough vaccines for everyone? What are the dangers of the vaccine itself? The Takeaway talks to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which will oversee the trials.

Before the recession began, 46 million Americans didn't have health insurance. Now, according to a report released yesterday by the liberal Center for American Progress, 14,000 Americans are losing health-care insurance every day. It's dire, but a consensus on health care may be taking shape. Many of the leading figures in the nation’s long-running health care debate have been meeting secretly to discuss the need for universal health care. For the details on these meetings, we are joined by Robert Pear, reporter for the New York Times.

For more, read Robert Pear's article, Health Care Industry in Talks to Shape Policy, in today's New York Times.

President-elect Obama campaigned on a platform of hope, change and sweeping healthcare reform. That was before the U.S. economy melted down. Now, unemployment is rising and healthcare is on nearly everyone's mind. Obama faces enormous challenges. For the long view on healthcare reform in 2009 and beyond, The Takeaway checks in with Susan Dentzer, editor-in-chief of the health policy journal, Health Affairs.