Illinois

I’ve never understood how putting a poor person who can’t afford to pay a parking ticket in jail is even legal. It helps no one. The poor people lose their jobs when they don’t show up for work, and then they certainly have no money. And cities make thing worse by not investing in mass transit or even affordable parking so people have to drive to their jobs and then have no legal place to park. If you’re lucky enough to snag an on-street parking space, you’ll have to move your car after two, three, or four hours because cities limit how long you can park.

If people were paid decent wages, they might be able to afford to pay their fines. I would hate to be poor in American cities. Far too many of our local governments only look for how much money they can take from their citizens, not how to improve their lives.