KingKauff: Don't pay the fee?
I think that is the only solution

Or not get arrested, perhaps.

Woman angry that she is charged a $45 booking fee every time she is arrested


She should try Expedia - I hear they don't have any booking fees.

But then she'd be a flight risk...

Yeah the cycle of fees and then arrests should be discriminatory against poor stupid people.

According to TFA, they arrested her for not paying the fee after her previous arrest. Not exactly the same as repeated crimes, and we don't even know if she committed any crime in the first place - you can be arrested and let go with no charges.

But she still gets a FAIL tag for not showing up in court.

They should charge her for the electricity after they tazer her.

Ugh...Poor bashing thread.

/probable cop bashing thread too.
//I'm outta here.

Debtor's prison? With fake debt created on your first arrest? Awesome - people stupid enough to get arrested once, even if they are later cleared of charges, can get effective lifetime sentences.

Seems legitimate to me. Get arrested, pay your fines. Period.

Allow me to be the Weeners this:

1. charge 45 bucks booking fee
2. arrest citizens and send them to jail
3. book, then release
4. repeat 1, 2 and 3
5. profit

booger42: Ugh...Poor bashing thread.

/probable cop bashing thread too.
//I'm outta here.

The unusable pieces of garbage cops are scum for arresting the dirty worthless poor people in the 1st place... If she'd get a farking job she'd be able to pay the salaries of the pigs who continually bother her..

/does that satisfy all criteria?

I'm sure she can give enough ten-dollar-blowjobs and cut back on how much she spends on meth (or more realistically cut back on her kids' food money) to afford the ninety dollars or whatever she's up to in cumulative idiot taxes at the local hoosegow. Forty-five bucks ain't a whole lot, especially as an avoidable or at least hopefully infrequent expense. I don't get to plead poverty on speeding ticket fines or what they do to my insurance (and trust me: I can't afford them), even though they are much more than forty-five smackaroos. I accept that I knowingly and willingly broke the law and have to pay for it.

she sounds fat

I have a real problem with people being forced to pay a fee when they get arrested. I could see the fee being part of a sentence, but the fee just for getting booked means that the government is punishing people without trial. I realize that this happens a lot, but it should not be acceptable.

Just remember that anyone can get arrested, it is not the same thing as being convicted (although, being guilty of something can sure improve your odds).

booger42: Ugh...Poor bashing thread.

/probable cop bashing thread too.
//I'm outta here.

Too transparent...try less hard next time.

i don't pay booking fees, but i am being charged for my checked luggage.

don't suppose that if i bring in something to jail, i am going to be charged for that as well.

Due process?

A person has to pay a fee just because she gets arrested? What about due process? She has to pay a fee simply because a cop decided to arrest her?

Sure, if she's convicted of something, she has to pay a fine, go to jail, go to prison, whatever... but a "fee" to process her arrest paperwork solely because someone else (i.e. a cop) says so?

Methinks we have a constitutional problem here.

/prepares check to ACLU to help protect due process
//thinks that she ought to show up in court

If you absolutely don't want to pay a solution is to insist you be held and refuse to pay any fees or fines. You may likely get fines on top of that as well but the court's only option if you refuse to pay is to put you in jail. Each day in jail credits like $50 off your fine but it can cost $80 a day for the jail to house you. If you want to stick it to the system refuse to pay any fine and request jail time.

maybe she could try getting a job? or we could give her child to someone who will raise it to be human, rather than a scum-sucking villain like her, and send her to antarctica.

I have never paid 'booking fees'...of course, I have never been stupid enough to be arrested.

I believe it was Jim Carey who put the solution in 5 words:

Stop Breaking The Law ASSHOLE!!!

This isn't extraordinary for countys to do.(though in NJ they charge you to leave, not enter) Though if it is for the fingerprint fee, that's BS for two reasons. One, fingerprints don't change and they already have them on file. AND they don't use ink anymore, it's "put your hand on this glass plate, "click", Ok back to your cell" they really don't even need intake officers for that anymore.

Eckert authored the Shawnee County book-in fee statute after he saw a Kansas law that allowed county boards of commission to assess the fee. The purpose of the Shawnee County fee was to off-set some expenses the county incurs in defending itself against lawsuits tied to the jail, Eckert said.

How about this? Just like we "shouldn't get locked up" you shouldn't hire the morans you do hire that cause these lawsuits. I'm sure they are all for mistreatment.

Psycho Zombie Monkey:
I have never paid 'booking fees'...of course, I have never been stupid enough to be arrested.

Give me your name and address and I'll see what I can get cooked up. (I know several corrupt cops, and they network all over the country. A couple of them have a sense of humor and I'm sure they would think it quite funny to plant a nickle bag or an unregistered handgun on you.)

geargutz: I believe it was Jim Carey who put the solution in 5 words:

Stop Breaking The Law ASSHOLE!!!

This.

/thought I'd get to say it first
//damn you!

Dirtybird971: This isn't extraordinary for countys to do.(though in NJ they charge you to leave, not enter) Though if it is for the fingerprint fee, that's BS for two reasons. One, fingerprints don't change and they already have them on file. AND they don't use ink anymore, it's "put your hand on this glass plate, "click", Ok back to your cell" they really don't even need intake officers for that anymore.

They can, and do, use the prints to verify identity, and it *does* take an officer to make the accused print up...

bookman: Psycho Zombie Monkey:
I have never paid 'booking fees'...of course, I have never been stupid enough to be arrested.

Give me your name and address and I'll see what I can get cooked up. (I know several corrupt cops, and they network all over the country. A couple of them have a sense of humor and I'm sure they would think it quite funny to plant a nickle bag or an unregistered handgun on you.)

Corrupt cops do not count. The complaining biatch in the story has brought this on herself.

Just for grins...my name is Mark Ramos
1999199 farkyou lane
Your Mom's stinky cootchie, NY

Well, we kind of used to have a concept of "innocent until proven guilty" around here, but whatever.

When did Ticketmaster start running jails?

Next they'll add in a $5.95 system access fee and a $2.95 911 (non governmental) fee. But the bookings will still only costs $45.

remus: IkonOlator: Due process?

A person has to pay a fee just because she gets arrested? What about due process? She has to pay a fee simply because a cop decided to arrest her?

Sure, if she's convicted of something, she has to pay a fine, go to jail, go to prison, whatever... but a "fee" to process her arrest paperwork solely because someone else (i.e. a cop) says so?

Methinks we have a constitutional problem here.


THIS.

Ok, I read the story expecting to be be screaming "well then, stop breaking the law". Instead, when I RFTA, I came away thinking what you put into words. If Bubba the cop wants to bring in some extra cash; this system means he can just arrest a bunch of people for bogus charges and rack up the $45/ea. Even if the charges are later dismissed/person found innocent/etc. If they want to charge the fee; then it has to be assessed only if the person is subsequently found guilty. Then, fine, go ahead.

Read carefully:

Jackson was convicted of two counts of forgery, first in 2006 and again two years later, according to court records.

When Jackson didn't pay a book-in fee on her 2006 criminal case, Jackson called the clerk of the district court office, where an employee told her to pay $75 to take care of the case, she said.

There is *no* indication that anyone found not-guilty is asked to pay these fees. There is no discussion by the lawyers or author about the legality or constitutionality. I am guessing it is a non-issue made up by farkers.

You can still get Social Security Disability if you're a convicted felon?

Came for what geargutz said....leaving satisfied.

amanogowa: There is *no* indication that anyone found not-guilty is asked to pay these fees. There is no discussion by the lawyers or author about the legality or constitutionality. I am guessing it is a non-issue made up by farkers.

Really????? FTFA: "Linda Jackson is irate that every time she is booked into the Shawnee County Jail she is charged a $45 book-in fee." and "In 2004, Shawnee County commissioners passed the ordinance requiring a jail prisoner to pay the $45 book-in fee if he or she had to be fingerprinted while being booked into the Shawnee County Jail."

You are simply mistaken. The fee is assessed to anyone who is arrested and has to be fingerprinted and booked. I certainly don't know Kansas law on which arrested persons must be printed and booked, but I imagine it's anyone actually arrested. Either way, the article makes clear that conviction has nothing to do with being assessed the fee; it's assessed on anyone arrested and booked. Then, if the person fails to pay on time, a warrant is issued for failure to pay the fee. That creates the cycle the article discusses. (After all, when re-arrested on the warrant, the defendant gets booked and fingerprinted again and a new fee is assessed).

Let us put aside for a moment the fact that this person is an idiot and just examine the fee.

It seems to me that if the funds are going into a general account used by the prosecution to pay for services that lead to conviction, than it should be unconstitutional.

It basically boils down to... She is financially assisting in her own conviction, not to mention the fee is assessed at booking... without due process.

remus: That seems to imply strongly that the fee is charged upon BOOKING, not after the case is adjudicated. It does not state anywhere that the fee is later rescinded if the person is found innocent. This particular woman appears to be protesting that they didn't need to fingerprint her again as they had it on file. Since they admit that they do waive it for some people, that establishes a precedent, thus she does have at least some reason to question why she was not offered this waiver also.

And I had to pay for a parking permit when I showed up for jury duty. I had to pay *before* I parked. That does not mean I was not refunded after I submitted my receipt...

/* hotlinked */

TFA: A jail is the source of a great deal of litigation, Eckert said, and fees in 2004 were put into the county's special liability fund, which is used to pay fees for the occasional attorney hired to handle a county case and for court settlements.

So, you're essentially fining people an uncontestable sum in order to pay for your attorney while theirs has to work pro bono? You are forcing people to fund their own prosecution, even if they cannot afford a defense?

That just seems wrong, though I'm not quite sure how.

Charging a fee for being booked at the jail is a really bad idea because it gives a department incentive to arrest anybody and everybody, just to collect the fee.

The department is wrongly awarded $45 for every innocent person they arrest. That's a terrible conflict of interest.

God--: booger42: Ugh...Poor bashing thread.

/probable cop bashing thread too.
//I'm outta here.

The unusable pieces of garbage cops are scum for arresting the dirty worthless poor people in the 1st place... If she'd get a farking job she'd be able to pay the salaries of the pigs who continually bother her..

/does that satisfy all criteria?

Nicely done, God--. Not too over the top, touched on all the main points.....are you really God--? Sorry, about all the fapping...er...

Psycho Zombie Monkey - Wasn't trying to troll, honestly. I just thought we'd kill 2 birds/one stone here.

/Yeah, I know I said I was gone - I came back
//Now I'm going again....probably will come back again too

Kareeshus: Charging a fee for being booked at the jail is a really bad idea because it gives a department incentive to arrest anybody and everybody, just to collect the fee.

The department is wrongly awarded $45 for every innocent person they arrest. That's a terrible conflict of interest.

Yeeahh, but that's only $45. You'd end up with overcrowded holding tanks if you live in Trailer Park Town. I'd agree with you it was more like $450.

/Or maybe $4500.

Kareeshus: The department is wrongly awarded $45 for every innocent person they arrest. That's a terrible conflict of interest.

I particularly like the latest innovation of charging a $275 non-refundable court fee to contest any parking/moving violation. If you get a ticket and contest it, even if found innocent, you're out $275. When you're talking about areas where even reckless driving only nets about $250 for the first offense, you're essentially denying people the right to contest -- the court wins by default.