zlacker

>>RBBron+(OP)
I wish we heard more stories like these. It might dissuade people from getting involved in drugs in the first place.

>>adnam+Kb
That is the absolute wrong takeaway here. It's about being overly harshly punished for mistakes in their youths. I've heard very similar stories from public defenders that have nothing to do with drugs, but with common punishment escalations that are hard to avoid when you're poor, and people surely can't avoid being poor.

Minor fine goes unpaid because this month the electric bill is more important.

Leads to more fines.

Leads to license suspencion.

Leads to driving while license suspended.

Leads to license suspension.

Leads to driving while license suspended.

Leads to felony jail time.

Don't get me wrong, there are choices made at each stage of escalation, and often all that's needed is to show up to court, dressed in your sunday best and respectfully explain situation to the judge, and the chain can be broken, but being poor leads to a lot of suboptimal decisions that could make it difficult or impossible to deal with any of this until there is no choice, and a felony conviction often ends up as the escalation that can't be putoff any longer.

>>milesv+wg
"Leads to license suspencion. Leads to driving while license suspended." Or, like, don't drive without a license.

>>adnam+Tg
Meh, you gotta do what you gotta do. You think for one second that if I had my license revoked that I wouldn't drive to get to work to support my family? You're a statist if you think driver's licenses prove you are a good driver--they're bullshit, just like all those little tags and stickers are bullshit. And a man can only eat so much bullshit.