Traffic tickets.
Another subtle way society shows its subtle chauvinist ways towards women and men.
(#WomenCanBeChauvinistsToo) (#Feminism)
So, municipal violations are indiscreet, minuscule ways of breaking the law. We have all committed them at a point in our lives. Don’t admit that you have; all I can say is congratulations on not getting caught. Consider them similar to a silly rule you had to obey as a child like no eating or drinking outside of the kitchen or not leaving the backyard or no running around the pool. Incidentally, those same rules have been broken without getting caught.
They range anywhere from speeding tickets to noise ordinances or open consumption of alcohol. They are the type of inconvenience that is costly. For example, in Sterling Heights, Michigan, the cost of running a red light is $170. Minimum wage is $8.90 a month, so an entry-level employee at McDonald’s would have to work 20 hours to pay off that ticket. The only reason why anybody should ever toss $170 emptily is for a pair of tickets to a Smashing Pumpkins concert.
Now, those that live check to check aren’t able to pay these fines right away. Most court systems understand this and work with violators in setting up payment plans so these violators can get their fines paid. It can’t be that simple, though. Oh, some courts will make you go through hell to get enrolled in those payment plans. And charge you more. New Orleans issues $100 JUST TO SET UP A PAYMENT PLAN! 44 out of the 50 United States charge you to be on probation.
And, if you don’t pay these off in an orderly fashion (right away), then you are subject to having your license suspended and you could be jailed if driving, for all intents and purposes, unlicensed. So, the courts are taking the way one method people use to get to work to make the money needed to pay off those fines and fees.
In short, the courts use tickets to prey on its most vulnerable citizens, the poor. Didn’t the eighteenth amendment provide for the abolishment of the ‘debtor’s prison?’ And the government shouldn’t be balancing its books solely on tickets. We need to abolish the new ‘debtor’s prison’, or as it’s commonly known, the ‘fuckbarrel.’
Because as Americans, we are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And in the pursuit of those, we should be entitled the right to fuck up once in a while.