I recall reading that in some European countries that fines like traffic tickets are a percentage of your net worth to make them have a similar “bite” for poor and rich alike, so speeding tickets can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
I would love to see that philosophy taken up in the US.
My favourite case in that vein happened a few years ago. Norwegian idiot buys Lamborghini in Italy. Drives it home through Denmark. Goes 232 km/h (144 mph) on the motorway on the way to the ferry. Never reaches Norway because Danish police will just impound and sell your vehicle if you go insanely over the speed limit (over 200 km/h speed).
Switzerland, which operates a similar income-based system, is believed to have imposed the highest ever traffic fine: Sfr3,600 a day for 300 days, or about €1.1m, for a Swedish motorist caught driving at 290km/h between Berne and Lausanne.
Ah, the mugshot.
Does Georgia require the removal of all makeup, eyeglasses, and hairpieces?
Could be ghastly. Oh, The Humanity! Oh, The Hilarity!
Will the snowflake melt in the Georgia sun?
We don’t do bail bondsmen either. Bail is supposed to be affordable to the defendent, but big enough to act as a deterrant to break bail conditions.
It’s curious that extortionate bail in the USA hasn’t been struck down as a failure of due process, but has in Europe as far as I can see, despite the constitutional differences. I’m not bashing anyone here, just nerdy about constitutional matters in UK and USA.
I was looking forward to at least one court taking Trump at his word for being a billionare and requiring a multi million dollar bail. From what he says about his wealth, $200k is practically petty cash.
On the downside, he doesn’t even have to pay $200k. He only has to pay 10% of that up front to get a bond and remain out of prison during the trial.
On the upside, however, one of the conditions of his bail is that he cannot make any threatening remarks that may be considered to be directed at any witnesses or members of the jury. If he does, he forfeits the bond and must pay the full $200k immediately or go to prison for the remainder of the trial.
We all know he is physically incapable of not threatening everyone, so he’ll definitely have to cough up $200k. That will hurt, even for him. Most of his alleged wealth is fake or on paper in non-liquid instruments.
I think, basically, no amount of bond means anything to him. He’s had no qualms about losing other people’s money. Even doing bail bonds, if he skips or wrecks it, the bondsperson facing death threats if they go after him? They might make more $$ down the road letting it slide in a very public manner. “Trump’s Bondsman!”
That’s a good question, and I don’t know. I’m going based on what various articles are saying, and I’m definitely no expert on the US legal system. Presumably if conditions are violated sufficiently, bail is revoked entirely and he’s held in prison for the duration of the trial, but I don’t know what the bar for that is.