We all complain when some sports figure who makes millions of dollars a year gets slapped with a thousand dollar fine. Now we all complain that someone is being fined according to his income. Both ways are discriminatory. One way discriminates against the poor. For example, a person making minimum wage ($7.25) gets a speeding ticket for $200. His weekly income before taxes is $150, so in effect he is being fined about 1.3 weeks earnings or about 50 hours of earnings. A rich guy making $100/hr (about $200,000/year) gets the same fine and is only fined 2 hours of his earnings. How is that fair?
The other way as the OP pointed out is also unfair because it has two different penalties for the same crime. But shouldn't the fine have the same impact on both the rich and the poor person?
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