In two minds about this one

[Rapscallion]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8437440.stm

Short version - the UK government has previously added a surcharge fine onto fines imposed by the legal system to pay towards victims of crime.

I'm fully in favour of making people pay for their crimes, and there's no point in adding surcharges to people who can't pay anyway, but I'm irritated by the idea that if I ended up caught and convicted I could effectively be paying for someone else's crime.

I commit a crime, I pay for it - not someone else's.

Rapscallion

[BlaqueKatt]

Short version - the UK government has previously added a surcharge fine onto fines imposed by the legal system to pay towards victims of crime.<snip>
I commit a crime, I pay for it - not someone else's.

we have that but it's paid for out of the Dept of Justice funds or the state's general funds-so taxes/parking fines/etc. pay for it.

[Boozy]

When I received a speeding ticket a few years ago, I was charged $50 for the ticket and $75 dollars for the "victim surcharge". I wasn't too happy about it, considering that mine was a victimless crime.

Speeding isn't always a victimless crime, of course, but I was a little incensed to be subsidizing the crimes of someone else. Nevertheless, speeding is not a good thing, so I took my lumps and paid up.

I'm also unsure of where this money goes. I know a woman who was widowed by a speeding (and drunk) driver, and left with two small children. She has not seen a lick of money from the government. Insurance, yes. But nothing from any "victim surcharge" pool of money. So where does this money really go?

[ladyneeva]

We have a victim surcharge thing where I am too, and it applies all the way down to the misdemeanor city code level violations.

Such as the horrific crime of having 6 (healthy, indoor) cats. Which while cats can be victims of abuse, they would never be awarded or granted money because of it so they would never use a victims support/defense fund. But we were still charged an extra fee on top of the fine for that fund.

[protege]

My borough does that shit too. Get busted for speeding, and look at the breakdown. Not only do they hit you with a $50 speeding fine, but also ambulance charges, fire department charges, and a slew of others. Last time I checked, getting pulled over for speeding did *not* require the ambulance or fire department. Those are on there, simply because the borough can get away with it. Doesn't stop the ambulance service and fire department (both of which are heavily subsidized to begin with...) from trying to get all they can via donations