The classic case was in Ferguson, MO. The city had a policy of finding petty offenses to charge black citizens, with high fines, which tended to put them in debt to the city, insuring a constant revenue source. The police had become a profit center and the city government a parasite on the black population.
To understand some of the distrust of police that has fueled protests in Ferguson, Mo., consider this: In 2013, the municipal court in Ferguson — a city of 21,135 people — issued 32,975 arrest warrants for nonviolent offenses, mostly driving violations.
A new report released the week after 18-year old Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson helps explain why. ArchCity Defenders, a St. Louis-area public defender group, says in its report that more than half the courts in St. Louis County engage in the "illegal and harmful practices" of charging high court fines and fees on nonviolent offenses like traffic violations — and then arresting people when they don't pay. The report singles out courts in three communities, including Ferguson.
Thomas Harvey, who started the organization to provide legal services to the poor in the St. Louis region and is the lead author of the report, says residents, especially in Ferguson, have come to see the use of fines and fees as a way for courts to collect money from residents who are often the least able to pay.
In Ferguson, Court Fines And Fees Fuel Anger
The number of cases increased greatly as the city lost other revenues and came to depend more and more on fines levied on the poorest citizens. It was only a matter of time before a spark ignited the situation.
Where I live in the state of Victoria it rips off it's citizens more than every other state.
Victorians paid a total of $320,000,000 in fines from traffic cameras last year.
They are so militant that they sent me to prison for multiple traffic offenses.
In Ferguson, Harvey says going to court creates more anger. The system, he says, favors people who can hire a lawyer. But poorer defendants simply take a guilty plea.
This is a problem for the justice system everywhere and is what ive been trying to say over at the "death penalty" thread. Justice only serves those that can afford it
As far as systemic racism goes the article says this
Blacks make up 67 percent of the city's population, but are 86 percent of motorists stopped by police. Whites make up 29 percent of the population, but 12.7 percent of vehicle stops.
"However, this data seems at odds with the fact that searches of black individuals result in discovery of contraband only 21.7 percent of the time, while similar searches of whites produce contraband 34 percent of the time," the ArchCity Defenders report notes.
Their could be a lot of reasons for those figures but even if we assume it is from racism in the system of this little town we would then have to make an even bigger assumption to say all of America has systemic racism
An American on another forum was trying to claim that the Abo's here are systemically oppressed... I knew they weren't but when I checked i found that its the non-Abo that is being treated unfavorably.
For health the government spends $1.38 on every Abo compared to $1.00 for the rest.
They get a higher benefit for school and unemployment
And they get taxed less than everyone else
So over here the systemic oppression is against non-Aboriginals
