A traffic fine that’s meaningless to a multi-millionaire can be crippling to someone living on the edge. Along with processing fees and penalties for late payment, a single fine can drive families into bankruptcy. The National Center for Victims of Crime estimated in 2011 that Americans owed more than $50 billion to the criminal justice system. The Washington Post estimated in 2018 that more than 7 million Americans may have lost their driver’s licenses because of unpaid court or administrative debt.
The solution is obvious: Calibrate fines to violators’ ability to pay. That’s the conclusion of an article by Jean-Pierre Dubé, a marketing professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, in the spring issue of the Chicago Booth Review.
