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Income-Based Fines ENGL 1213
Principles of English Composition II (ENGL 1213)
University of Oklahoma
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Income-Based Fines Did you know the fastest known speeding ticket was issued in May 2003 in Texas? The ticket was issued for going a whopping 242 mph in a 75 mph zone in a Koenigseggs CCR, a Swedish sports car according to nytrafficticket. If the driver was fortunate enough to own this almost $2 million car, hopefully, he was able to pay the $650,000 fine for going 167 mph over the speed limit along with multiple other offenses. Going 167 mph over the speed limit is impossible for most people, but receiving a ticket or fine that is almost impossible to pay is a reality for a lot of people in the United States. The stakeholders we have in this conversation are the State and Local Government, the Federal Government, the offender, and the average citizen; and they all play a huge role in the economy of our nation and for the topic of income-based fines. For the average citizen, a fine can be a burden that they have to overcome, but for others, it may take sacrifices to come up with the funds to meet the government's expectations. According to motorist, the average speeding ticket will cost about $150 ( National Motorists Association Blog ). This might not seem like a lot at the moment, but when we consider the federal minimum wage of $7 per hour, working forty hours in a week would equal a gross pay of $290. Working full-time at a minimum wage job earns about $290 per week before taxes. Paying a $150 ticket immediately takes away about 52% of one's weekly gross income and about 13% of one's monthly gross income. This is before considering other basic needs such as rent, food, and an emergency fund. In fact, Oren Nimni from currentaffairs phrased it best when she said, “One of the most insidious fine regimes comes from the government itself in the form of fines in criminal court,” and shares the same opinion that fines used as a punishment can make living extremely difficult for low-income people or families (Nimni). There are countless stories of people being threatened with jail time over unpaid fines and fees that accrued from ridiculous
offenses. According to a news article from CNN, in 2011, 19-year-old Kyle Dewitt caught a certain fish while it was out of season ( CNN ). He was issued a $115 fine and was told the information on how to pay the fine would be sent to him in the mail. A few months go by and he had never received anything in the mail so he called his local courthouse to see what happened. Kyle found out that since he never paid the fine, a warrant was issued for his arrest, so he went down to the courthouse to get it all figured out, and he was immediately arrested. He paid $ to get bailed out of jail, and after going to court was ordered to pay $225 towards the fine since it was overdue. All of this time, money, and burden spent on nothing more than catching the wrong fish. For such a small offense, major criminal actions were taken against him and he ended up paying even more out of pocket all over something that was almost entirely out of his control. Occurrences like this are happening more and more every day and there is a significant reason for why this is happening. According to Alexandra Bastien in an article for Policy Link, incarceration rates are the highest they have ever been (Bastien). When one is incarcerated, they are placed in a prison, given three meals a day, access to electricity and water, and pretty much everything that a human needs to live. In order to provide all this for inmates, it needs to be paid for. Because incarceration rates are at an all-time high, that also means that the expenses are at an all-time high as well. Local and state governments are issuing more fines and fees than ever to combat the increasing expenses because most of the fines go to support the local or federal government while their budgets are simultaneously being cut. Looking online at my ticket from when I was pulled over, I can see the breakdown of where the money went from the fine they collected from me. I was pulled over for speeding by a state trooper and was issued a $100 ticket back in November of 2020 so the money I paid went directly back to the state and not the Federal Government. Looking at the breakdown of where the fines went, the actual cost for
calculated as 50% of what one makes in a single day, and that number is multiplied by the days of fines. For example, if the judge decides that the severity of the crime would be 10 days' worth of fines. Suppose one makes $100 a day one would be issued a $500 ticket ($100 x 0 x 10). Following the same circumstances, someone who makes $20 a day would only be issued a $ fine. This puts the offender at ease if they cannot pay a fine without cutting out necessities, and deters wealthier people from committing the crime again because it took the same percentage of money out, making it more ‘equal’. The problem of fixed fines has been an issue in the United States for an extremely long amount of time. Instead of following along with other nations and countries and switching to a day-fine system, or something similar, the United States has continued to keep their traditional fixed fine system. This system can create hardship in low-income families and individuals which means they might go without basic necessities one needs to live and or even face jail time to pay the fine associated with their offense. Our stakeholders, the State and Local Government, the Federal Government, the offender, and the average citizen, are on two different ends of the spectrum here. The government is assigning a monetary loss as a punishment to those who chose to commit crimes, while offenders and average citizens are forced to pay them or face jail time. Even after paying the fines, only a small percentage of the fines actually went towards the crime committed, the other about ¾ of the fine went to other categories such as maintenance and hourly wages. Fixed fines are a problem in the United States currently, and it is only getting worse as the pandemic continues. But, to have a perfectly good solution that works for both the government and the people, and not have it utilized already is the true injustice.
Works Cited:
Bastien, Alexandra. “Ending the Debt Trap: Strategies to Stop the Abuse of Court-Imposed Fines and Fees.” PolicyLink , Mar. 2017, policylink/resources-tools/ending-the- debt-trap. Ellis, Blake, and Melanie Hicken. “Shockingly Small ‘crimes’ That Can Land You in Jail.” CNNMoney , money.cnn/2015/04/09/pf/arrest-warrant-jail/index.html. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022. “Fines and Fees Are Inherently Unjust.” Current Affairs , currentaffairs/2017/04/fines-and-fees-are-inherently-unjust. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022. Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, Elena, and Maximilian Kerk. “Day Fines: Asymmetric Information and the Secondary Enforcement System.” European Journal of Law and Economics , vol. 49, no. 3, May 2020, pp. 339–60, doi:10/s10657-020-09658-2. Legal, US. “Day Fine Law and Legal Definition.” USLegal, Inc. , definitions.uslegal/d/day-fine/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022. OSCN Case Details. oscn/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx? db=tulsa&number=TR-2020-13567&cmid=3399094. Accessed 24 Feb. 2022. “Traffic Tickets Are Big Business.” National Motorists Association , 12 Oct. 2007, ww2.motorists/blog/traffic-tickets-are-big-business/. Weiss, Matthew. “Fastest Speeding Ticket Ever.” Weiss & Associates, P. , 22 Aug. 2009, nytrafficticket/fastest-speeding-ticket-ever/.
Income-Based Fines ENGL 1213
Course: Principles of English Composition II (ENGL 1213)
University: University of Oklahoma
