In de VS is klassenjustitie is helemaal terug!
A yearlong NPR investigation found that the costs of the criminal justice system in the United States are paid increasingly by the defendants and offenders. It’s a practice that causes the poor to face harsher treatment than others who commit identical crimes and can afford to pay. […]
The roots of the growing practice to add more fines and fees can be dated back to the start of America’s tough-on-crime policies, beginning with the War on Crime in the 1970s and then the War on Drugs in the 1980s. In 40 years, the number of people behind bars in the U.S. jumped 700 percent. Jails, prisons and courtrooms became overcrowded. And the costs of running them, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, rose from $6 billion for states in 1980 to more than $67 billion a year in 2010.
At the same time, states struggled with budget deficits. Politicians faced new pressure not to raise taxes. So states started charging user fees to defendants.
h/t djools
Reacties (3)
Ze betalen toch juist niet, worden dan opgesloten en kosten dan extra geld?
In Nederland word je trouwens opgesloten als je je boetes niet kan betalen, en moet je ze na afloop nog steeds betalen. Dat schiet lekker op voor mensen met weinig tot geen geld.
Ik zag ook Corey Robin over precies dit stuk in Stalinism on the Installment Plan … En eerder, uiteraard, Sargasso.
Al lezend je dan denk je dan: wanneer adopteert de PVV/VVD dit systeem? Het past immers perfect in hun wereldbeeld.
@2 het begin is dus al gemaakt…
Overigens wel weer mooi dat de NPR hiermee komt.