While I understand why someone might think like this, the evidence, unfortunately, is that some jurisdictions use court as a revenue source. The most famous ex

While I understand why someone might think like this, the evidence, unfortunately, is that some jurisdictions use court as a revenue source. The most famous example is Ferguson, MO, because of the death there of Michael Brown. There, the city so aggressively enforced BS ordinances that there was an average of 3 warrants per household[1]. But there are other examples as well, and penny-ante enforcement may actually undermine serious crime prevention.[2] [1] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/08/ferguson-and-the-debtors-prison.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/08/fe... --- this blog post also gives an example of one of the more troubling barriers to court appearance: judges who close their courtrooms to non-defendants, meaning defendants without child care can't appear. [2] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1078087418791775?journalCode=uarb https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/107808741879177... --- ungated version: https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/YOU_policing.pdf https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents...