Where did I say anything of varying tiers or Democrats?[/QUOTE]


The state being discussed was California.

most traffic tickets are just another way for the government to collect revenue... through a 'sin' tax... I figure why not just prepay your tickets... that way you are taxing the rich ahead of time....say I pay the state $1000 and that lets me drive 20mph over the speed limit for the next year.... can't figure out why the politicians have not figured this out yet.

What about "equal protection under the law?

And, “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” Who cares what it costs if you don’t speed?

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
I say make traffic fines more percentage based according to income. You violate traffic laws, you get fined X%. Fair. A $100 fine doesn’t affect me nearly as much as it would someone making <27k/year.

Why cater to people based on income? Why not have one set of rules for everyone? If you don’t violate traffic laws, the penalty doesn’t matter.

What’s next different levels of penalty for murder based on one’s level of income?

Almost everybody in here is complaining about equality and "not breaking the law", and only one person has really gotten it so far:

quote:

most traffic tickets are just another way
for the government to collect revenue

How about we address the real problem here. It's not people driving, or how people are fined, but that fact that the government is using drivers as a piggy bank.

We have seen it around here when the state limited what percentage of a city's budget could come from traffic fines. All of a sudden the sea of police cars "keeping drivers safe" all but disappeared. Odd isn't it? If it was really about safety why did they all leave?

And for those who state that people simply shouldn't break the law, there are so many laws that you likely have no idea how many you yourself break in any given day.

quote:

Originally posted by dgshooter:
What about "equal protection under the law"?

It was a great idea. It served us well for 200 years or so.
But the whole idea of "equal protection under the law" falls by the wayside when some are not prosecuted because they are in a protected class based on race or gender, some because they lack the resources to pay the fine, and some because they are connected or tied into the "deep state".

Many traffic laws are ostensibly designed with the safety of the driving public in mind. With this plan, if you are struck and killed by a speeding, red-light running low income driver, will you only be 50% dead?

Well, Oakland has a policy in place to have LE ignor "minor" traffic infractions such as blown tail lights, blowing a stop sign, etc. Basically to curb criticism of pulling over too many blacks.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
I say make traffic fines more percentage based according to income. You violate traffic laws, you get fined X%. Fair. A $100 fine doesn’t affect me nearly as much as it would someone making <27k/year.

Cool. Since I'm soon to retire and will have little 'income', how about we also change the laws governing murder. I get 1/10 the punishment someone who makes 10 times what I make does. Makes sense, right? Wow!

I’m with you. Screw that. Typical new America get penalized more for doing the same thing because you busted your ass and sacrificed more than someone else.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Originally posted by dgshooter:
What about "equal protection under the law"?

It was a great idea. It served us well for 200 years or so.
But the whole idea of "equal protection under the law" falls by the wayside when some are not prosecuted because they are in a protected class based on race or gender, some because they lack the resources to pay the fine, and some because they are connected or tied into the "deep state".

Yeah, I know. Some peoples lives are more important than others. That is why the penalty is greater when they get injured or don't pay their drug dealer.

How about community service instead of fines? I hear there are some littering problems in San Francisco.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
How about community service instead of fines? I hear there are some littering problems in San Francisco.

That’s a much better idea.

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
How about community service instead of fines? I hear there are some littering problems in San Francisco.

That’s a much better idea.

Really... Last time I checked here in Central Florida, there were over a million hours of community service on the books and garbage lines most of our local roads. When I asked about people burning off some of their community service hours picking up garbage, I was advised that wouldn't be happening because 1) It too hot outside in Florida for them to safely work, and 2) Forcing them to pickup garbage creates a public safety concern for them. The reality is, most people who get community service hours will never have to complete them.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
I say make traffic fines more percentage based according to income. You violate traffic laws, you get fined X%. Fair. A $100 fine doesn’t affect me nearly as much as it would someone making <27k/year.

Cool. Since I'm soon to retire and will have little 'income', how about we also change the laws governing murder. I get 1/10 the punishment someone who makes 10 times what I make does. Makes sense, right? Wow!

You realize that income, net worth, etc. aren’t just calculated using a paycheck, right? I also hope you realize that laws have significant more than one sentence to detail exactly how they will work. We are speaking about general concepts here.

I keep seeing “one set of rules for everyone”. That is what I’m advocating. You fuck up, you lose x% of your shit. Income is just an easy way to help with the overall structure as well as the discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by zingo:
Where did I say anything of varying tiers or Democrats?

The state being discussed was California.[/QUOTE]

Correct. Can you answer my question?

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
Why cater to people based on income? Why not have one set of rules for everyone? If you don’t violate traffic laws, the penalty doesn’t matter.

What’s next different levels of penalty for murder based on one’s level of income?

If you have a problem with fines being used a punishment (which caters to income) that is another argument. I’m also advocating for an even level of penalty. The current fine method is very uneven.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
Why cater to people based on income? Why not have one set of rules for everyone? If you don’t violate traffic laws, the penalty doesn’t matter.

If you have a problem with fines being used a punishment (which caters to income) that is another argument. I’m also advocating for an even level of penalty. The current fine method is very uneven.

That's the way shakedowns fines work in most banana republics....
It's whatever they think you can pay.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
It’s a simple solution...

You never go a mile about the limit?

This is an OPINION column from Syracuse NY. Most of the comments do not agree with the author.

https://www.syracuse.com/opini...sses-commentary.html

Opinion

Taking away licenses for unpaid tickets hurts NY families, businesses (Commentary)

By Kelly Gonzalez

Today 10:29 AM

Nobody likes a traffic ticket. At best, it’s a nuisance. At worst, as hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have experienced, a traffic ticket can be the start of a devastating chain of events.

At the Center for Community Alternatives, we help people touched by the criminal legal system reintegrate into their communities. Our work includes connecting our participants to job opportunities and stable housing. Our participants rely on their driver’s licenses to secure and maintain their jobs, to access health care, and to utilize our services, including a peer-to-peer mentorship program. But a suspended license is a major obstacle for our participants as they work to get back on their feet.

For Michael, one of the participants at the Center for Community Alternatives, a traffic ticket from 1988 led to him to spend a week in jail and owe thousands of dollars in court fines and fees. In 1998, Michael returned to Syracuse after living out of state. He was pulled over by the police, who found that he had an outstanding traffic ticket from 10 years earlier. Because he had not appeared in court, there was a warrant for his arrest. He was charged with a misdemeanor and spent a week in jail.

Upon Michael’s release, he appeared before a judge who ordered him to pay to get his driver’s license back or face the possibility of more time behind bars. Michael found it impossible to pay. In addition to the hundreds of dollars for the initial ticket, he also now owed court-imposed fees and fees at the Deparment of Motor Vehicles.

For a time, Michael had a job in Fayetteville, but there was no bus route that could take him there from his home in Syracuse. Faced with the choice of losing his job or driving and risking another arrest, Michael made the decision to drive without a valid license so that he could earn enough money to pay his fines and fees. This continued a vicious cycle of punishment and poverty.

For years, Michael accrued new charges in various town courts for driving without a license. He would try to make partial payments, but many of the town courts refused to accept anything but full payment. He continually had to appear in court, burdening his family for transportation. Michael lost his job, accrued thousands of dollars in debt, and spent time in jail — all because of a single traffic ticket.

Between January 2016 and April 2018, the State of New York issued nearly 1.7 million Traffic Debt Suspensions — driver’s license suspensions for not paying traffic tickets or appearing to contest them. As Michael’s story illustrates, people who do not pay their traffic fines or appear at traffic hearings are not trying to skirt the law — they simply can’t afford to pay their traffic debt. In response, New York criminalizes poverty, instead of offering support.

Losing a driver’s license is no small thing. A suspension can threaten a person’s entire livelihood. Thirty percent of jobs in New York require driving, and many employers require a valid driver’s license. A study in New Jersey found that 42 percent of drivers lost their jobs when their driver’s license was suspended. Driving is such a necessity that 75 percent of people continue to drive after their license gets suspended — risking a criminal charge, more fines and fees, and even jail time. New York forces people to make this impossible choice.

This injustice is compounded by the fact that license suspensions are not issued at the same rate for everyone. Low-income people and people of color bear the brunt of our broken system. Driver’s license suspension rates in New York’s 10 poorest communities are nearly nine times as high as those in New York’s 10 wealthiest communities. Our communities with the highest percentage of people of color have traffic debt suspension rates up to four times as high as those in our whitest communities. For our low-income participants of color who can’t afford to pay their traffic tickets, a driver’s license suspension can be devastating.

Legislatures across the country are fixing the cruel and counterproductive practice of suspending a driver’s license for not paying a traffic ticket. In fact, six states recently ended debt-based suspensions. New York must join this movement by passing the Driver’s License Suspension Reform Act, sponsored by Assembly Member Pamela Hunter (D-Syracuse) and state Sen. Timothy Kennedy (D-Buffalo). This bill will:

End traffic debt suspensions;

Make affordable payment plans available;

Provide additional notice of traffic hearings; and

Reinstate all driver’s licenses suspended for traffic debt.

Losing your driver’s license means losing out on opportunity. This bill will help our participants keep their jobs and pay their fines. It’s a win-win for our participants and for the state. When California made similar reforms, revenue increased.

We thank Hunter for her continued support of our participants and look forward to joining her this session in the fight to end traffic debt suspensions. It’s time to stop taking away people’s licenses just because they don’t have money.


Kelly Gonzalez is deputy director of the Center for Community Alternatives, in Syracuse.

Is this not the same moron who has run the state into more than TWO TRILLION DOLLARS OF DEBT?

And who are these "low income drivers"?

Oh, yeah I forgot.

Illegals