anonymouspoliticker t1_j6641m8 wrote on January 27, 2023 at 11:47 PM

Reply to comment by PoorGuyCrypto in Judge rejects motion to detain Pittsburgh activist over Facebook posts by Intelligent_Ship_431

Why? It's an alternative to being in jail and it needs to be paid for somehow.

PoorGuyCrypto t1_j664dvi wrote on January 27, 2023 at 11:49 PM

For the same reason we don't charge prisoners rent for being in prison.

The state imposes and enforces the law. The state can pay for it.

Monitoring fees, probation fees, and things of the like can prevent someone from getting their life together - and create new "crimes" out of not having enough money.

Being broke should NEVER be criminalized.

dropkickpa t1_j66tpzq wrote on January 28, 2023 at 3:04 AM

They do charge prisoners rent!

https://whyy.org/articles/paying-rent-to-your-jailers-inmates-are-billed-millions-of-dollars-for-their-stays-in-pa-prisons/

https://apnews.com/article/840d5544c20e4d2db261ad0f8608eaed

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/12/paying-rent-to-your-jailers-inmates-are-billed-millions-of-dollars-for-their-stays-in-pa-prisons.html

69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_j69ppgt wrote on January 28, 2023 at 7:35 PM

Maybe Dawson and people like her are correct about what a shithole this nation is.

anonymouspoliticker t1_j6idt16 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 3:36 PM

None of those are criminalizing being broke as they are all only applicable to people duly convicted by their peers. Criminalizing being broke would be like charging money for a public defender (but they are free). They owe a debt to society in a similar way that someone who parks in a fire line and gets ticketed does.

PoorGuyCrypto t1_j6ifnbv wrote on January 30, 2023 at 3:48 PM

Fines and tickets are one-time fees based directly on the violation.

Charging someone a monthly "monitoring fee" in a system where people convicted of a crime can only get the lowest-paying jobs is completely immoral.

Charging them with further crimes for their inability to pay those monitoring fees is disgusting.