Speed Trap

In San Francisco, some drivers are more equal than others:

The Speed Safety System Pilot Program was signed by Newsom in October 2023 and allows cities across California to use speeding cameras to fine drivers. Those considered lower-income are eligible for a steep discount if they receive a speeding ticket. Violations for speeding range from $50 to $500, but individuals with a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level are eligible for a 50% discount, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Indigent persons, or individuals who are homeless, are eligible for an 80% discount on the speeding ticket.

The program's defenders hide behind the façade of safety, claiming that these cameras are placed in "high-injury zones" where pedestrians have been killed. But here's the million-dollar question they can't answer: If these areas are so dangerous that people are dying, why are we giving discounts to anyone? Isn't every life equally valuable? Or does the radical left think poor people should get a discount on endangering lives? This dangerous precedent opens a terrifying door. What's next — different prison sentences for theft based on the criminal's income? Will we start charging people of different ethnicities different fines in the name of "equity"? It’s not exactly far-fetched because that was the point of California’s Proposition 47. Passed in November 2014, Prop 47 reclassified felony theft offenses under $950 as misdemeanors. Back in 2020, the Public Policy Institute of California noted that “Prop 47 also led to notable decreases in racial/ethnic disparities in arrests and bookings.”

The African American–white arrest rate gap narrowed by about 5.9 percent, while the African American–white booking rate gap shrank by about 8.2 percent. Prop 47 has not meaningfully changed the disparities in arrest and booking rates between Latinos and whites, which are still only a small fraction of the African American–white gap.

The fines aren't fine...