Public Humiliation

I read a post on the blog, Grits For Breakfast, Dallas Using Public Humiliation Tactics For Petty Scofflaws. This article talks about how Dallas County has published a website where people can look up and find people in their area that have as little as a class c misdemeanor. Scott Henson (the writer of this blog) believes this is just the counties way of embarrassing people into paying their fines therefore raising revenue. He believes that it is one thing to provide this kind website for sex offenders because that actually offers a service. The website even offers pictures of the people owing fines and a list of who owes the most. It is horrible that this is even out there but then on top of it, the website put up a disclaimer. The disclaimer states, " The wanted person’s [sic] listed may not be accurate due to the instant ability to satisfy their delinquent accounts and the inability to update this list in a timely fashion. This list may not be current. The case amount is approximate, and can vary." So these people are being embarrassed and in some cases without reason. The article also talks about how the jails are charging inmates a medical screening fee which of course doesn't come from the inmates but rather from their families. The author feels that this is just another ploy on the behalf of the county to produce more revenue by taking from the people on the bottom.

I think this author is justified in his his opinion about the website. It is not the job of Dallas county to air people's dirty laundry. I think most people could understand this argument. I don't have any charges or fines against me but, I can certainly understand people who do, not wanting their business out for all to see. This article was probably written to inform the average citizen who might have these minor charges against them that this site is out there. As far as the medical screening fee for inmates, I can understand what he is saying that it is not the inmate that is actually paying these fees, but i don't think that it is a horrible idea for the people who broke the laws to pick up some of the financial burden they cause. Even if our opinions might differ the author is credible. He has for his adult career served as a volunteer for criminal justice reform and worked in professional politics for a long time. So his opinions are based on being around this arena for much of his life. Government can definitely be greedy so i am glad he wrote this article to inform us whether we agree or not. The more knowledge the better.