“Last Week: Tonight” host John Oliver on Sunday dug up enough material for an entire monologue about how local police are able to “bleed you dry” on municipal violations and tickets.
Take it from Attorney General Eric Holder, who picked a case from the recent Justice Department report on institutional racism in Ferguson, Mo.
Holder cited an incident from 2007, in which a woman was originally charged $152 for two parking tickets. Through an explosion of fines and fees, the charge eventually ballooned into over $1,000, only half of which she’s been able to pay.
“Even people stocking hotel mini bars are thinking, ‘that markup seems a little high,'” Oliver said to applause from his audience. “Just settle down.”
A study of the area surrounding Ferguson found that eight towns relied on this kind of thing for a large amount of revenue—one township earned 66 percent of its funds from fines and fees.
“When that much of your budget comes from fines, you’re actually rooting for people to break the law!” Oliver said. “Listen everyone, we’re gonna have to close the library, unless someone urinates up that wall and the rest of us start driving like maniacs.”
Ultimately, Oliver pointed out that the poor bear the brunt of this cycle.
“Not only should municipalities not be balancing their books on the backs of some of their most vulnerable citizens,” he said, “but we cannot have a system that where committing an minor violation can end up putting you in, and I’m going to a legal term of art here: the f*ckbarrel.”
Watch the clip, courtesy of HBO:
