FINES AND FEES:  The issue of what to do about jurisdictions that finance themselves out of fines and fees was popular right after the Ferguson riots.  Not surprisingly, it’s getting some play again now.

This is an issue for which there is a bit of agreement on the left and the right:  When municipalities see fines and fees as their primary method of raising revenue, they can get carried away.  Justice falls through the cracks.

The Commission did a report on the topic in 2017.  My statement agrees with my Progressive colleagues in some respects.  But it also points out that they’ve never seen a penalty that they didn’t hate–from the death penalty to incarceration to fines.  What’s left?  Should we go back to the pillory?