John Oliver passionately rails against life-ruining municipal tickets and fines

(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

"If you're thinking, how the f--k is it possible for a grandmother to go to jail for traffic tickets, well, that is what this story is about," John Oliver said near the beginning of his main story on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. Because the phenomenon of cities and towns financing their municipal governments by bleeding their poorest residents isn't limited to Ferguson, Missouri.

Oliver started, though, with an example from Ferguson, where a woman had to pay more than $1,000 for $150 worth of tickets. "Even people stocking hotel minibar are thinking, 'That markup seems a little high'," he quipped. After running through some more cases, he did a mid-segment recap: "If you get a ticket and you can't pay it, you may get additional fines, lose your license, and eventually, your job. And if you're thinking: 'Is there any way this whole situation can be made even worse?' relax, there is." It involves private companies taking on probation work, and it is, in fact, worse.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.