Impacts of Day Fines on the United States Justice System

Impacts of Day Fines on the Justice System
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Abstract
Day fines provide numerous benefits as a criminal sanction. They can reduce prison overcrowding as well as eliminate the side effects brought about by imprisonment. Furthermore, they levy fair costs on the citizens and the subsequent compliance leads to an increase in state revenue. Another notable advantage of this fining approach is that it covers the aspect of income variations among offenders, and therefore it is fully exploited. The ordinary punishment technique, whereby sanctions are uniformly imposed on wrongdoers who commit similar crimes is severe to the poor and lenient to the rich. In other words, an amount of fine deemed small or fair is less likely to deter or discipline the wealthy criminals, whereas the same amount of fine might be unaffordable to low-income of offenders. In addition, the structural fines offer partial solutions to the American judicial system. Therefore, the research ascertains that day fines technique could certainly benefit the U.S judicial system if implemented effectively.
Impacts of Day Fines in the U.S Justice System
Introduction
Day fines, also known as structured fines refer to monetary penalties payment scheme that is imposed on wrongdoers based on their financial status and the degree of offense committed. This mode of fine originated from the Western countries where it was determined based on two formulas. The first method of calculation involved deriving the fine based on the severity of the offense. The second approach was arrived at by multiplying the value obtained in step one by the percentage of an offender’s daily income. Structured fines present effective and efficient sanction to criminal justice practitioners since they a suitable substitute for imprisonment imposed on less serious trivial crimes. In addition, the fines have been effective in setting fair, equitable, proportionate, and just fines based on the ruthlessness of the violation and the disparity of wrongdoers’ economic situation. In spite of the numerous advantages associated with day fines, one of its major weaknesses is that many judges have been unable to set equitable and fair fines that are also proportionate to the severity of the offense. Nonetheless, correct implementation of day fines could improve the U.S Justice system because the approach has proven to be effective in controlling crimes, boosting judicial revenue, eliminating offenders’ impunity by removing impartiality in judgments.
Structural fines have been effective in reducing and controlling crimes as many individuals are concerned with parting away with a substantial amount of money over trivial offenses. Lawbreakers have chosen to be cautious and become law-abiding citizens since none of them is ready to pay hefty fines amidst the unfavorable economic situations around the globe (Gaines & Miller, 2018). Even the rich offenders are threatened by the fine plan as it is determined based on individual financial status. The wealthier an offender is, the bigger the fine would be and vice-versa. Actually, day fines kill two birds with one stone because they serve both as a punishment for the committed offenses an...