income based fines - for them or against them?

RedJeepXJ · 11-20-2008, 01:00 PM

saw in my paper they are raising the prices for traffic and other criminal court fines to pay for a new jail, this seems a bit unfair as the purpose of a speeding ticket is to be a financial hit to reduce the activity, but should a cashier who makes $10k a year be fined as much as a stock broker who makes $200,000k a year?, for the cashier it could mean making the rent payment, for the stock broker the amount won't even be noticed. this kind of goes against the entire point of the fine based system because the stock broker won't care in the slightest about $200 so it's not really a fine for him.

In Germany they base it off your income so that the fine stays the same percentage for each person, making it so rich people don't get to ignore the law for what is essentially free to them.

this would also help raise funds more fairly

The Mean Fish · 11-20-2008, 01:04 PM

You're the most crooked thinking person on the face of this planet.

GLANGA88 · 11-20-2008, 01:05 PM

I was watching a show on the Autobahn and they fine you based on income. Some guy was fined something like $52,000 while another man was fined only a few hundred for the same offense.

GasAxe · 11-20-2008, 01:05 PM

The only problem is some bleeding heart will cry that a welfare speeder still pays too much. I agree the millionaire jerk won't care about a $200 fine but there's too much corruption for a sliding scale to be effective.

92XJCowboy · 11-20-2008, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLANGA88

I was watching a show on the Autobahn and they fine you based on income. Some guy was fined something like $52,000 while another man was fined only a few hundred for the same offense.

The point is that you have the same hit on your finances no matter how rich you are. How would you like to see a celebrity get fines for anything and everything drinking related and be able to pay with pocket cash and then you get busted for the same thing and you have to wreck your savings in order to pay.

GLANGA88 · 11-20-2008, 01:09 PM

I'm on the fence about this because then where is the line drawn as to what offenses these income based punishments can be applied to. Should wealthier people's minimum prison sentence be manditorily increased because they can afford better lawyers?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 93xjcowboy

The point is that you have the same hit on your finances no matter how rich you are. How would you like to see a celebrity get fines for anything and everything drinking related and be able to pay with pocket cash and then you get busted for the same thing and you have to wreck your savings in order to pay.

Celebrities aren't a very good example this day and age. They get away with everything to begin with so there is no hit on their finances.

Don X · 11-20-2008, 01:12 PM

dirtball28 · 11-20-2008, 01:13 PM

Sure, why not. It makes just as much sense in theory and on paper as any other system of justice. Which of course means it would be essentially innefective once someone attempted to put it into practice.

**Cause** · 11-20-2008, 01:18 PM

Why stop there.

Paying for food, gas, utilities, ...make it all proportional to what you earn...

...idiotic in my opinion!

WillysEdition04 · 11-20-2008, 01:20 PM

Ok. So let's say fines are now income based. The amount ($) of the fine is a percentage of the income ($). $:$

What about jail/prison sentences? Should that part time cashier serve less time than the stockbroker? The punishment system should be the same.

That stockbroker may work 60, 70, 80+hrs a week while the cashier works 20hrs. If $:$ then it should be the same for time. T:T

So for the same offense Ms. Cashier served 6mos. and Mr. Stockbroker served 10yrs. Not so fair now is it?

Oh, this doesn't make any sense? Neither does the $:$ system.

Don X · 11-20-2008, 01:20 PM

hmmmm.....now that I've had a chance to think about this it might be a good idea....provided that at the same time we revise criminal sentencing guidelines. It seems that some one without a job should receive longer sentences since they've got a lot of spare time on their hands anyway and to take only past of that time away would hardly be punitive.

RedJeepXJ · 11-20-2008, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillysEdition04

Ok. So let's say fines are now income based. The amount ($) of the fine is a percentage of the income ($). $:$

What about jail/prison sentences? Should that part time cashier serve less time than the stockbroker? The punishment system should be the same.

That stockbroker may work 60, 70, 80+hrs a week while the cashier works 20hrs. If $:$ then it should be the same for time. T:T

So for the same offense Ms. Cashier served 6mos. and Mr. Stockbroker served 10yrs. Not so fair now is it?

Oh, this doesn't make any sense? Neither does the $:$ system.

that's completely missing the idea of this system, time would be the same, it's just the dollar fine would be adjusted so it penalizes both equally

and cashiers don't necessarily work shorter hours, I know several cashiers who work very hard, an economy needs all it's workers. saying they should have studied better is one thing but every role is critical, they shouldn't be penalized more then the stock broker because they didn't pick a high paying profession, that goes against the idea of punishment

and btw since the stockbroker can afford to spend 10's of thousands on lawyers it's currently the other way around, not that that has anything to do with this forum topic

WillysEdition04 · 11-20-2008, 01:37 PM

If a cashier only works 40 hrs a week at minimum wage (7.00 here) and chooses to work no overtime or holidays, they earn 14,560. So for your cashier to only earn 10,000, they have to be part time.

I make more than 10K a year but I sure as hell work harder for it.

**firefighter1c57** · 11-20-2008, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedJeepXJ

saw in my paper they are raising the prices for traffic and other criminal court fines to pay for a new jail, this seems a bit unfair as the purpose of a speeding ticket is to be a financial hit to reduce the activity, but should a cashier who makes $10k a year be fined as much as a stock broker who makes $200,000k a year?, for the cashier it could mean making the rent payment, for the stock broker the amount won't even be noticed. this kind of goes against the entire point of the fine based system because the stock broker won't care in the slightest about $200 so it's not really a fine for him.

In Germany they base it off your income so that the fine stays the same percentage for each person, making it so rich people don't get to ignore the law for what is essentially free to them.

this would also help raise funds more fairly

I think you should move to socialist country and enjoy all the benefits they have and quit trying to bring that crap here. Thanks, by, and have a nice day.

LandRover · 11-20-2008, 01:52 PM

We already have income-based fines. They're called taxes.

View Poll Results: income based fines or current regressive fines
keep fines at a set amount	97	72.39%
have it based on a percentage of income	33	24.63%
not sure	4	2.99%
Voters: 134. You may not vote on this poll

11-20-2008, 01:12 PM	#7
Don X Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 58 Profile Gallery Classifieds My Jeeps	__________________ There's nothing more over rated than a bad lay and nothing more under rated than a good crap.

11-20-2008, 01:20 PM	#11
Don X Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 58 Profile Gallery Classifieds My Jeeps	hmmmm.....now that I've had a chance to think about this it might be a good idea....provided that at the same time we revise criminal sentencing guidelines. It seems that some one without a job should receive longer sentences since they've got a lot of spare time on their hands anyway and to take only past of that time away would hardly be punitive. __________________ There's nothing more over rated than a bad lay and nothing more under rated than a good crap.