Poor criminals let off...But poor drivers still fined!

The lunatics are most certainly running the asylum...we need more people to start taking the keys off them.

'Scrap fines for criminals who cannot afford to pay'
HAMISH MACDONELL
SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR
The Scotsman Tue 6th June/06

CRIMINALS on low wages or benefits will escape court fines, under plans drawn up by legal experts.
The Scottish Sentencing Commission published its recommendations for an overhaul of the fines system yesterday. It called for the scrapping of fines for offenders with low disposable incomes, replacing them with supervision orders or community service.

Anybody who defaulted on a fine of up to £5,000 would no longer be jailed, but would also be kept under supervision or made to do community service.
This drew a blunt rejection from the Tories. They warned that some offenders were making a "mockery" of the current system by refusing to pay their fines and that if a court decided a fine was an appropriate sentence, it should be collected from wages or benefits.
Ministers will study the report before announcing whether or not to adopt the proposals.
About 85,000 fines are handed down by the courts in Scotland every year, accounting for almost two-thirds of all punishments. But about 6,000 Scots - 7 per cent of those fined - are imprisoned every year for non-payment.

Unease in political and legal circles over the issue led to the commission's investigation.
Lord Macfadyen, the SSC's chairman, said the commission had decided against a move to the continental "unit" fine system, where fines vary according to an offender's income.
He said this was impractical under the Scottish legal system, as information about an offender's income cannot be made available until after sentencing. This meant earnings-related fines would require external reports and cases to be returned to court, which would not be cost-effective for small fines.
But he went on to support the idea of dropping fines for those with low disposable incomes - even though he had insisted there was no reliable way of determining such income.
Lord Macfadyen refused to set any guidelines for "low disposable income", preferring to leave that to the courts' discretion.
But he said: "Imposing a financial penalty in such cases is, in our view, simply setting up the offender to fail."

Oliver Adair, the convener of the criminal law committee of the Law Society, said the proposal seemed a "sensible option" and it would "update the system for today's society".
Mr Adair, a solicitor, said:
"A large percentage of the prison population are there because they have defaulted on their fines, when there is no way they could have paid them in the first place. This provides an alternative punishment."

Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader, agreed that efforts should be made to prevent criminals from going to prison simply because of unpaid fines, but argued that the fines should be paid in full - straight from the offender's wages or benefits.
She said: "
If supervised attendance orders are the right sanction for a crime then they should be given by the court, at the time, instead of a fine. But if a fine is the correct penalty for a particular crime and criminal, then it should be collected."
And Miss Goldie added: "In recent months we have seen people make a mockery of the system, notably Scottish Socialist MSPs, so it is clear that some action needs to be taken."
The Scottish Executive will not follow England's lead and cut housing benefits for nuisance neighbours. Pilot schemes for the penalty plan will be confined to England, and Executive sources said ministers would wait to see how they performed before making a decision on implementing new rules.