I’ve considered this, and the justice of uniform fines independent of income is not so clear.
A fine is not a price, but a punishment. Imprisonment, assuming it does not result in job loss, deprives the person being punished of a certain number of days of income, as well as their liberty for those days. If a fine is seen as a gentle analogue of imprisonment in which the person is deprived only of a certain number of days of income without the accompanying loss of liberty, fine amounts based on income are perfectly sensible without any leveling impulse or leftist notion of “social justice” being invoked.
Of course, were such a system implemented here by any locality or any of the several states, income would need to include the value of government transfer payments and other social benefits, not just taxable income.
“I’ve considered this, and the justice of uniform fines independent of income is not so clear.”
I hear you on this one. When I was a student or when I was unemployed to get a ticket that was a few hundred dollars was devastating. Most judges will allow you to make payments, still.
I got a cell phone ticket and the cop said it was only $60, but add on court costs and other fees and it was nearly $200. At the time I only made $1400 a month. I cannot imagine what the car pool ticket ($481 (how’d they get such an odd number) would be with court costs and fees. We do have an amendment that is supposed to limit excessive fines and bail, but it is hardly heeded.
That said, I’m not sure I’d support a system here as the one in the article.