Patrick proposes new fee on criminals

[ckramer]

Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday that he had come up with a way to pay for more police officers in Massachusetts: charge convicted criminals a fee.

Unveiling his most detailed account yet of his plans for next year's state budget, Patrick said he would propose a "safety fee," which every person convicted of a crime would have to pay.

The program is modeled on a similar fee the state now levies against people who violate the law, a program that generate s about $6 million annually to pay for services for witnesses and victims of crime. Those fees range from $90 for anyone over age 17 convicted of a felony to $50 for those convicted of a misdemeanor and $45 for anyone who commits a civil motor vehicle infraction, such as speeding.

Patrick said he had not yet set the amount of the proposed fee. But he estimated that it would raise $10 million annually, about half of the $20 million he expects to spend to hire 250 additional police officers in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. Patrick said he wants to eventually add 1,000 new police officers to the streets, at a cost of $85 million.


http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/14/patrick_proposes_new_fee_on_criminals/

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I like the idea. It should also be extended it to all financial crimes too. Make the fee much bigger too.

[bluerum]

1. Thats fine for the crooks who have money. But if they need to pay on

the installment plan then they will need to have jobs to keep up with their weekly payments. Maybe they can take out "criminal loans" to pay the State. Then they can work off the loans once they get out of prison. Or, just default on them and head for the hills. This could be a windfall for the loan companies if they can lobby the state into enforcing strong penalties for defaulting on "criminal loans".

I like the basic premise, but see a lot of holes in this.

The biggest one being that saddling criminals with a lifetime of debt is probably not going to be a big deterrent to crime. I can also see this program costing more to maintain and administer that it would bring in.

Presumably this has been researched at some level and has been demonstrated to be feasible.

What criminals need is rehabilitation.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. I agree

I doubt a lot of criminals would have the money.

[ixion]

3. and people wonder why I want to be a hermit

:eyes:

[NorthernSpy]

4. just trying to cash in on America's last thriving industry...

Drugs.

Yeah, I know that this proposal is supposed to apply to all crimes. But so many summonses and arrests are for drug possession, that this "crime fee" is in essence an attempt to collect tax on popular -- if currently illegal -- luxury goods like pot.

My solution: legalize pot, and sell it in liquor stores right next to the booze. Then you can collect all the tax you want.

[rodeodance]

5. fines are high enough!!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. It's just a tax increase

on the backs of one more group of "people nobody gives a shit about".

Like jacking up the tax on alcohol or tobacco. It's a regressive tax. Republicans should like it.

To the state, it's like "free money".