Ontario
Posted on 03/05/2015 1:37:43 PM PST by xp38
Breaking the law in Finland will cost you, but exactly how much depends on a couple of things. One is the severity of the crime committed, and the other is the lawbreaker's income.
The latter factor is in place to ensure that punishments are equally felt by all be they rich or poor. Due to his millionaire status, Reima Kuisla was handed a roughly 60 thousand dollar ticket for traveling 14 miles per hour over the posted limit.
Before issuing the citation, authorities looked up the man's 2013 tax return and calculated the amount accordingly.Though the ticket value is based on long-standing law, Kuisla feels that he's been treated unfairly.
He wrote on his Facebook page, "Finland is impossible to live in for certain kinds of people who have high incomes and wealth."
Before the age of technology, the nation's top earners did have a bit of a loophole. Back then when asked to state their annual income, a number of them just lied. Though numerous rich people have complained about the sliding scale system, based on responses to Kuisla's grievances, not everybody is sympathetic to their woes.
One individual astutely pointed out, "If you follow the rules you won't have to pay fines."
Fines are not based on a percentage of your income. Geez, do you want murderers to be able to post bail b/c the state looks up their assets and finds nothing?
Crap. Fines should be uniform. This is another angle on protected classes and treating classes of people differently under the law.
What is the difference if two speeders break the speed law both by 15 miles per hour? The severity isn’t any different. The only way it is different is if one causes an accident of some kind, and then that is a separate incident and a separate fine or civil or criminal charge.
So what are you going to do with people who break the speed limit? You’ve got to have sanctions, but jail sentences are a bit over the top unless they’re doing 80mph in a 30 mph zone. If you are a multimillionaire, a 50 dollar fine is like a small fee giving you a license to break the law. So any punishment needs to act as a deterrent, but not to the point where you are locking everyone up for a minor offence. What else would you suggest?
” It’s only fair. (if you’re a commie) “
Of course it depends how many ties you have with the gruebermint and whose campaigns you contributed to, it is like how a medium sized biz can be raked over the coal by the EPA, but the really large liberal donating ones settle out of court for a virtual pittance.
Memo to Paris Hilton...
Again, what is the deterrent for reckless driving if the fine is chump change to a rich person? The point of a fine is to inflict a minor punishment that hurts, but doesn’t warrant a jail sentence. Giving a multimillionaire a 50 dollar fine is hardly a deterrent to breaking the law, its a nominal fee for a license to break the law. May as well do away with fines altogether and just let drivers drive as fast as they want.
And surely murderers should be held in custody until trial? That kind of crime isn’t the sort of thing who have been charged with it should be roaming loose on.
to quote Joe Walsh in Life’s Been Good
My Maserati does one-eighty-five
I lost my license, now I don’t drive
I have a limo, ride in the back
I lock the doors in case I’m attacked
We have the same thing here. It’s why bankers can pay a pennies on the dollar fine for drug money laundering instead of going to jail.
You certainly sound like some of the characters in Atlas Shrugged. Not the characters I admired, however.
Driving on a couple of Ontario’s “Interstates†I’ve seen big green signs saying that if you’re caught doing “x†over the speed limit (it’s in kph so I don’t understand it) you can be fined $10,000 *and* they can seize you car.They don’t specify if the seizure is temporary or permanent.
Damn, sounds like he was going fast enough he could go back in time and NOT speed, thus no ticket.
Comments?
Better call Saul?
I hope Obama doesn’t read this- or have it read to him if he can’t read.
"From each according to his ability" is not one of the founding principles of the USA. Although you and 0bama apparently feel that it should be.
Ontario
The point of traffic fines is revenue.
” After all, if you are a multimillionaire, you have no real deterrent for disobeying the law.”
I suppose reckless driving is $ 150,000.
Use your head. This is all about the money!
O sure lets do away with the XIVth amendment.
Speeding doesn’t hurt anyone, on its own. It does increase the likelihood of hurting someone, so I imagine a cost could be assigned and a fine imposed on that basis. If we’re concerned about disparate effect, I suppose some combination of fines and involuntary servitude (AKA public service) might fix that.
If they do hurt someone as a consequence of speeding or otherwise, punish them in proportion to the damage they do. Governments have the habit of using coercion to influence behavior, but I think it’s generally a bad one. Often it’s an awful one. I don’t think it should be encouraged.
'nuff said....................
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