I have an easy solution to California's budget woes.
Fines instead of jail time.
For example, if you were a middle or upper middle class person, who for the first time had been arrested for DUI, how much money would you pay to NOT go to jail for several months?
$10,000? $20,000? $30,000?
Annually, California has about 130,000 DUI *convictions*! If only 25% of these are both "1st time DUI", and able to pay, California would earn close to a BILLION dollars.
On JUST DUI.
Now think of all the other embarrassing offenses committed by the middle and upper middle classes. Non-violent offenses that they could pay whopping big fines for instead of going to jail.
So not only does California get a huge influx of income, but it also saves a huge amount of money by NOT incarcerating people in expensive jails.
If California chose this system over spending money to put people in jail, it could probably balance its budget with just a dozen crimes turned into fines.
Bring back debtor's prison!
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"If California chose this system over spending money to put people in jail, it could probably balance its budget with just a dozen crimes turned into fines."
Great idea! Bring back the wehrgelt! And while we're at it, let's sell indulgences!
Look, fundamentally, I'm with you, we shouldn't be criminalizing this behavior. But the difference between us is that I prefer to decriminalize consensual 'crimes,' while your 'solution' is to give the wealthy a get-out-of-jail-free card for cash. You fail to see that in so doing you are creating a class of moneyed nobles above certain laws. Cash does not equate to virtue--but you will be saying it does, and that will be a very, very dangerous thing.
"Only the poor go to jail, dahlink, it's so plebeian..."