Should Fines be made to be equal for all, regardless of income?

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stratis c	i wish u would run for president of the us Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Scitech05	Fines should be a percentage of income not a fixed sum. That's why cutting off a hand for theft is a much fairer punishment Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

logand_101	No. That Would Be Ufair. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

richard	Yes, sounds like you have the basis of a good idea there. I think it could work well, and the extra money could be used to fund Bush's war of terror. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

devils sweetheart	no i meen it aint fair for sum1 who's unable to get a job n has 3 kids 2 b charged the same amount of money as an axe murderer who raped 1 billion ppl Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Ollie	Your question is spot on.I agree it should be on the percentage then maybe we would not have so many people in prison for non payment of fine. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

nert	I totally agree with you. A parking ticket fine (for example) to someone who earns £1000 per week is pocket money, to someone on minimum wage could mean the difference between eating or not eating. There quite rightly should be a base fine level, but then take into account the yearly income the family earns and means test it from there. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

SADGIT	avoid getting into trouble then the fines won`t matter it will be 0 and you have all your disposable income to do with what you please Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Sally J	Certainly some form of means testing for fines would be much fairer but would probably cost huge amounts of money to administer because of all the form filling, rebuttals, conniving, cheating etc. etc. that goes on. So we would probably have to have a whole new HUGE department somewhere to administer it. But yes, in principle, I totally agree with what you are saying. And the money could be used as a form of compensation paid to the VICTIMS who normally get forgotten about. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Philip	Everyone should recieve the same punishment for the same crime. That would be equality. Also what about taxes? Some people have to pay more to use the roads and live in their country then others. Why should living in a free country cost one person any more or less that another? Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

thebigtombs	This sounds like a good idea, one size does not fit all, and it is time the crime and ability to pay were considered when sorting out a punishment. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

dh1977	What about people who are unemployed? Should they have no fine? Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

duc602	What is good for the Goose is also just as good for the Gander. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

daydoom	A flat fee is the only thing that can work, too many people do not work and therefore they could never be subject to a penalty for infractions, unless you want to add jail time to the penalties. Drug dealers, for example have no reportable income and yet have plenty of money to pay fines. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Social Science Lady	If you can`t pay the fine, don`t commit the crime! Or maybe you could share your crime with a friend, and only pay half a fine? Fines are punishment for wrongful behaviour. Don`t expect the authorities to be cosy and obliging with you,for something which you bring upon yourself! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

keny	the people who are saying equality are missing the point if a millionaire got a £500 fine it `s nothing to him if a single unemployed on £50 a week got it look at the impact it would make on his life even paying it off £10 a week it would take a year of either not eating or going without heat or electricity thats punishment putting one less bet on a horse or missing out on one posh meal out isn`t wheres the equality in that!!! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Andy R	Depends on whether the fines system is for punishment or to discourage offences. Seems harsh to penalise a successful businessman more for the same offence than an unemployed person, but then again at least they'll think twice before doing it. It works ok in some scandinavian countries, so I think it'd do well in the UK. If you can't pay the fine, don't do the crime. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

ligiersaredevilspawn	Yes, I do agree with you on that one. A great exmple for this is parking fines. If Richard Branson decides to park his bentley in the middle of London right outside harrods, he will have earned more in the time saved from parking his car illegally than what the fine amounts to. Someone who earns 200 quid a week on the other hand who commits the same offencewill see at least 25% of his weekly wage disappear. This creates a system where the rich can just run amok . The courts are supposed to take into account someones level of income when issuing fines but it is rare they are sufficient enough to have the same effects across the board. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

saajan_1982	that won't be fair Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

big g	Equality is the word. Everyone needs to be treated equally. If they don't like the fines, don't do anything wrong Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

RJ	Fines should be a flat rate. You know ahead of time that there will be a fine for breaking the law, so if you decide to do it anyway, that was your own decision. The fine is a punishment, not a negotiation. Period. Transfer your line of thinking to the other punishment for crimes: prison time. If you have a guy who is 20 commit a robbery and he gets 20 years, he'll only be 40 when he gets out. But if a guy who is 50 gets the same sentence, he'll be 70. The old man doesn't have as much life left as the young man, do you think that just because of that, he should be given a lesser sentence for the same crime? Should we start basing prison sentences on a percentage of a person's life expectancy? The older you are, the less time in prison you get? No! That would just be stupid. And encourage older people to commit crime. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

?	Don't do the crime if you cant pay the fine. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

75160	The fine for should be the same to all people committing the same crime. Why would it be fair for you to pay a larger fine than I do (if you made more money), if the crime we committed is the same? I don’t understand your logic. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No