The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Long Story Short: Police Over-Ticketing Poor Communities

Episode Date: February 26, 2023

Wanda Sykes tackles the over-ticketing of poor communities and why the government needs to stop using people as its "take a penny jar."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And th tickets aren't going away anytime soon, because these fines aren't just to punish you. It turns out, local governments need that money to keep the lights on. Traffic stops aren't always about safety or hunting contraband or crime. Some cities use traffic stops to raise money. The cities and counties that are trying to use these schemes, trying to use these fines and fees to balance their budget, are basically charging a backdoor tax to poor people. In the South, municipalities strapped for cash have been targeting the most vulnerable citizens.

We're primarily black and living under the poverty line. In Missouri, some of these municipalities generate anywhere from 20 to 40% of their total revenue by finding citizens. That's right. These cities are filling their budgets on the backs of poor people. Yeah, so the next time a cop asks, do you know why I pulled you over? You can be like, let me guess, the mail wants a standing desk? And getting fine is bad enough. But then they tack on a bunch of extra fees, payment plan fees, collection fees. One county even has a $51 processing fee.

So it costs you $51 to give me a $30 ticket. How about you not giving me the ticket and you just saved yourself $21? $241. And let's say, and let's say you're like a lot of people and don't have all this money just laying around. Well, in 14 states, your ass might be going to jail. Yeah, you heard me right. 14 states will send you to jail for being poor. And if you want to know what states those are, it's probably the ones you're thinking of. And guess what? You could come out of jail on even more because they actually charge you another fee for going to jail. Like that's so

messed up. Okay wait a minute I'm in jail because I couldn't to tell, and now you're charging me more for being in jail. You know I couldn't pay? That's why I was here in the first place. What, do you think I hit the lottery while I was in jail? But you know what? It doesn't have to be this way. A lot of other countries never find you more than you can afford. They find you based on your income. This makes it more fair since billionaires aren't paying the same fines as people who work at the dollar store. And if you're thinking, that must lead to some expensive-ass tickets, you'd be right. A man in Finland got caught speeding, and boy did he have to pay up. Listen to this.

A Finnish millionaire got a $58,000 fine for going 64 miles per hour in a 50 zone. While that seems kind of crazy here, over in Finland, speeding tickets are based on your income. The highest ticket so far was $103,000, a ticket given to a Nokia executive who made roughly $14 million that year. I'll tell you what, we did that here, that will make me start putting those quarters in the parking meter. Look, if the ticket is meant to punish you, it should feel like a punishment.

$30 for a rich person is not a punishment. Rich people don't even know money goes that low. If you ask Jeff Baisos for $30, he'll be like, do I just rip a corner off of this $100 bill? So long story short, stop using poor people as your little take a penny jar, especially over small shit. If anything, we should be doing the opposite.

I propose every highway should have a broke lane. Do what you want. Do what you want to do in the broke lane. Busted tail, light, expired, registration, dangling muffle, who cares? You get hauled ass in the broke lane, because you've got to get from your second job to your third job. I don't care, do whatever it takes. But if you get caught in the broke train, train, train, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, thane, the thane, thane, the thane, thane, thin, thin, that, that, thin' that, that, that, th, th, th, th, th, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, th, that, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thi, that, that, to to tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, that third job. I don't care, do whatever it takes. But if you get caught in the broke lane,

talking about, well, I'm trying to get to my squash game at the country club. Then the officer can a $51 processing fee. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.