re: Justice Department: States Should Not Jail Poor People Over Fine Nonpayment

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I don't think that chart is accurate.

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Of course you don't. You've been indoctrinated

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I don't think that chart is accurate.

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Of course not.

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Ok, so going with your idea, you may receive the same financial consequences for running a stop sign as someone may receive for physically assaulting you.

I guess that's "fair", right?

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No, I'm talking about tickets. Obviously, felonies would not have the financial adjustments to the same extent.

Is that a camel you're riding?

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Obviously, felonies would not have the financial adjustments to the same extent.

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That's fine.

I asked that previously and didn't get an answer. As long as the total fine is capped, I'd be ok with misdemeanor fines as a percentage of yearly income, but I don't think it wouldn't be uphelp against court scrutiny.

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I'm sure that is probably some chart from Fox News.

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It's from Kiplinger, who got their data from the IRS

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The latest numbers from the IRS

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Like most lefties, you've been indoctrinated and believe any data proving otherwise is propaganda. You're confusing income with wealth.

Question dear, since a jobless person has vastly more free time than someone who is working 60hrs a week shouldn't he get far more community service hours for the same crime in your view? It would only be fair?

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Question dear, since a jobless person has vastly more free time than someone who is working 60hrs a week shouldn't he get far more community service hours for the same crime in your view? It would only be fair?

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That would be a fair compromise, though the poor don't work fewer hours than the middle class. That is a myth (though with giant corporations dodging benefits by using part-time, it is less true than it used to be).

Essentially, if universally accepted and enforced, this opens the door to certain segments of the population openly committing crimes with no concern of penalty even when caught.

And if you face no penalty when caught, why even avoid situations in which getting caught is highly likely?

It decreases the value of having a regular job with traceable and taxable income. (no apparent job, too poor to pay your fines or go to jail when you don't pay)

It lowers the value of having joint income in a home and thus reduces the financial value of marriage. (no apparent household income, too poor to pay your fines or go to jail when you don't pay)

It could predictably also alter sentencing for many types of crime where a currently a combination of confinement, monetary fees, and community service are currently used. If there is no intention or ability to pay fees, then potentially sentencing would change away from fees and cause an inadvertent increase in confinement or community service.


On the community service aspect, one could also foresee that if jail time, and financial fees are too large of an undo burden on those choosing to commit crimes, it will not be long until the same is said about community service. The community service would interfere with their livelihood by removing parents from single parent homes, blue collar workers from jobs, etc.









Laws are mostly written to protect the safety and liberty of individual citizens. Penalties must be in place as both a preventative and a punitive measure for those choosing to break the laws. To be effective the penalties must be of sufficient negative impact to match the situation.

It is clear in many cases that fees and jail time are not effective in altering the underlying situations which precipitate criminal activities. Lowering the poor's minimal capital, or restricting them from financial growth or employment clearly will not benefit them in the long run. If of sufficient time, confinement can force a person through drug/alcohol withdrawal and but the majority slide right back to those habits upon exiting. Community service has less negative impacts on livelihood but is often costly and difficult to oversight, and prevents employment during the time of the service.


So what preventative and punitive actions should we be employing to best deter crime, impart no barriers to individual economic and social growth, reduce the financial burden on tax payers, and potentially aide in positive movement away from the underlying circumstances of the crime?