A yearlong NPR investigation found that the costs of the criminal justice system in the United States are paid increasingly by the defendants and offenders. It's a practice that causes the poor to face harsher treatment than others who commit identical crimes and can afford to pay. Some judges and politicians fear the trend has gone too far.
I think the problem is that law and order in the majority of this country is primarily supported by these fines. This may create a (biased or not) financial incentive to not only find more people guilty but to tax them the maximum penalty. The charging for jail is the most ridiculous. You keep someone in jail, preventing them from even earning money for the original fine and then when they get out, you tell them they now have to pay for their own incarceration? "The only reason that the court is in operation and doing business at that point in time is because that defendant has come in and is a user of those services. They don't necessarily see themselves as a customer because, obviously, they're not choosing to be there. But in reality they are." That is insane. You can't squeeze blood from a stone. The bottom line is we are slowly reviving the debtor's prison and guilty or innocent, criminal and taxpayer alike are paying through the nose for it. And for what exactly? Is this money going back to the good of the community or just someone's pocket?
I've thought court fees were pretty ridiculous since I got a marijuana possession charge back in 2008. It's supposed to be a $100 fine, but if I hadn't taken the option of attending a minor in possession course for $200, then the cost of that charge would've been $495 with court fees--nearly five times the original fine. I have no idea how there can be this large of a discrepancy between the punishment for the actual crime and the amount charged to the defendant.
Orange County CA is doing things right in this regard. We have a series of alternative courts -- one for the homeless and one for veterans called Veterans Combat Court. These courts exist specifically to address the issues raised in the article. It's an acknowledgement that justice cannot be seen through a tunnel and that in a lot cases, support is more important than punishment. I think it's a very progressive system. I'm ignorant of how many other counties in the US have similar alternative courts, but I hope it becomes more adopted elsewhere.