Parking Tickets Of The Rich And Famous
If you’re like me, you noticed a story floating around recently about how Amazon founder and ludicrously wealthy man, Jeff Bezos had a D.C. building renovated into his private residence over the course of three years. The building cost $23 million and the renovations cost $12 million. While those are insanely big price tags, it’s important to note how insignificant they are to someone like Bezos. The part that caught my attention though, was the $16,800 in parking tickets that the project involved.
During the three-year project, the construction crew and associate vehicles reportedly accumulated 564 citations amounting to nearly $17,000 in fines. The fines were paid, but that’s not the point. The point is that those citations represent illegal acts. Illegal acts that have fines as a preventative measure for most of us. If you’re Jeff Bezos though, a fine is the price of admission.
There is a long history of the wealthy and powerful ignoring laws that have fines associated with them. Steve Jobs would reportedly often park in handicapped spots and drive without plates because the convenience was worth the fine to him. Michael Jordan played in unauthorized sneakers but Nike payed the NBA fines because the promotion was worth it to them. Fines as they exist in our system mean a thing is only against the rules if you’re poor.
That’s the situation Finland and a handful of other countries have tried to address through day-fines. One example from Finland offers a vehicle going 64 miles per hour in a 50 zone resulting in a fine of approximately $58,000. Finland’s system bases fines on an individual’s earnings. It uses federal tax data and calculates what an individual makes in a day. That number is cut in half and that is the starting point for a fine. The base number is modified based on the severity of the offense and how long it takes an individual to pay.
Let’s assume an annual income of $60,000. Some oversimplified math and that means an unmodified fine of about $130. Not great, but again, this is supposed to be a sanction on violating the law. Finland institutes such fines not only for speeding and parking, but for things like shoplifting as well. Similar programs are set up in Switzerland, France, Germany, and a handful of other countries.
Linking fines to income means that the super wealthy will be less able to simply buy their way out of obeying the laws of society. (Of course, this assumes accurate tax records and we all know how the wealthiest among us are allergic to playing fair with the price of citizenship, Bezos in particular.)It also means that economically disadvantaged citizens won’t be thrown in jail because their parking ticket was too much for them to pay.
Similar structures for fines were tested in different U.S. areas a few decades ago and there appeared to be an equalizing result in terms of application of law in relation to economic status. Most of these programs took place in the “tough on crime” 80’s though, and time fines weren’t seen as harsh enough. With the prison system bursting at the seams and facing constant human rights scandals, many observers are looking back at a day-fine type system.
The law should have the same impact no matter your economic status. It’s not a proper or just application of the law if the super wealthy can pay their way out of obeying the guidelines of society. Rich and poor should be equally incentivized to obey the law. A higher tax bracket shouldn’t come with immunity from parking tickets.
