What would prison be like if one can substitute prison time for money?

I don’t think that the Justice system would allow that possiblility, however I bet in the past some had took the rap for someone elses mistakes.

Well, you can bet there would be a legal system for the poor and a separate one for the rich, LOL! Oh wait..

There is this truth that states that something that is illegal with a fine, it means that for a rich person it is legal for a fee.
Your proposal would make things even worse. If implemented, everything would be legal for a fee for a rich person. Including murder and rape.

@ragingloli ^agreed. Would it work if we make fines indexed for wealth?

Finland already charges fines based on ability to pay, which is why a speeding ticket recently cost $103,000 US.

I think in a way it is already like that. Do you think if any of us did even a fraction of what Trump did, we would still be out walking around? We’d be in the jail a long time ago.

Sounds like an idea for a shit reality show.

Sounds like a reasonable idea for non violent crimes. Except forget about paying some poor SOB to serve your time. Make payments directly to the criminal justice system. Make the payments adjustable to the wealth of each criminal. For example a twenty year sentence for Elizabeth Holmes the payoff fine would be $1 billion. And a 20 year sentence payoff for someone in the middle class would be their house and their entire savings. The poor as always have to suck it up and do the time. Money is power and a lot of money is a lot of power.

In the early 1860s Confederate government passed the Confederate Conscription Acts to raise enough manpower to fight the Civil War. All white males ages 18 to 35 had to serve. At some point they allowed paid “substitutes” to stand in for the person drafted into service.
That was outlawed at some point but it is apparent that the practice is still in place in one form or another.
Drump dodged service by claiming 5 deferments: 4 for education and one for bone spurs. “You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam.’”

Me thinks you are on to something epic!

It seems a little silly. What does society gain by having someone else serve the time?

@LuckyGuy paying someone to substitute for you was also a factor in the Northern States, as evidenced by the draft riots of 1863 in New York, which was also the subject of the movie “Gangs of New York.”