South Carolina criminal defense lawyer Bobby Frederick has an excellent example today of the scourge of profitable punishment:
Law enforcement agencies receive grants based on the number of DUI arrests they make – if the number of arrests goes down, they are in danger of losing that money. Law enforcement officers are given awards for the number of DUI arrests they make (arrests – not convictions), which encourages them to make as many DUI arrests as they can in order to gain recognition.
He also refers us to a great explanation from Lawrence Taylor of what MADD is really all about.