Where I live, you can be fined $1000 and confined for 1 year for misdemeanors, including many driving offenses such as exceeding 85mph or 20mph above the speed

Where I live, you can be fined $1000 and confined for 1 year for misdemeanors, including many driving offenses such as exceeding 85mph or 20mph above the speed limit. These punishments can be dealt by the District Court, which is not a court of record and the processes and standards are very relaxed. In this lowest court, these driving misdemeanors are prosecuted (on behalf of the state) by a police officer, just as a non-criminal traffic ticket ("infraction"). Sentencing judges already have the opportunity to impose fines and consider the defendant's means when deciding the amount to be levied. I would personally say that "$1,000 is not a lot of money," and that if a $150 fine for 85mph (reckless here) is appropriate for a person earning $15000 p/a then that actually favors $1000 for a subject earning $100k in an ends of justice/deterrent argument. Maybe more than that because the $100k defendant will be paying from a discretionary budget, not the money for food/rent.