&gt;First, the leveraging of state fines, backed by government force, disproportionally affects the poor.<p>As a Texan with family in law enforcement, I get to watch this unfold daily. But here&#x27;s a question for you, why is law enforcement levy and collect so many fines? The individual officer does not directly benefit from giving out so many tickets (other than keeping his job).<p>One of the large issues we have now is the court system financed via these fines. There have been many attempts to collect more tax dollars to directly fund the court but that is almost always shot down by groups such as the grassroots movement. This is a direct failure of not the poor people, but the middle class taxpayer that has now put the burden on the poor. The middle and upper class want (I&#x27;d say even demand) effective law enforcement, and this is how they&#x27;ve figured out to keep it running without causing to much political strife.