The hell with 'em.

If they hadn't committed a crime they wouldn't have to worry about it.

I keep hearing that. Don't screw up and you don't have to worry about ...

Fairness. And equality.

And that thing that - despite being the basis of our whole American mythology - has somehow become a loaded word:

Justice.

Reckon, the investigative brand at AL.com, has launched a series of stories on Broken Justice in Alabama, an ongoing effort to examine fairness and punishment in Alabama.

The stories so far have focused on disparities: How felons who should under law be allowed to vote have been disenfranchised because they can't pay court fees; how pre-trial diversion programs can be a harsh gamble, and how a pregnant woman charged with forging a $75 check was kept in jail on a flimsy mat because she could not come up with cash bail.

A commenter under Anna Claire Vollers' cash bail story - using the name "The Doctor" - had this prescription:

"I have a great idea on how not to get yourself in this situation. Don't commit a crime."

The Doc's not alone. That's the philosophy of Alabama's justice system.

Don't screw up. Or you'll pay. And pay and pay.

It's not just Alabama. The national trend in courts is to make defendants pay the costs. But Alabama bought in big. The Legislature cut funding for courts and services, and hiked fees so "users" pay the brunt.

Lawmakers and cities love it. They don't have to raise taxes, and everybody's happy. Except for the bums in the system. And nobody listens to them.

They're right. People still run afoul of the law. Those able to pay the fines and increasing fees can put it in the rear view and never look back. Others - those who can't afford it -- pay a heavy price.

Because the courts became more about money than justice. A municipal court judge in Monroeville was fired after the city clerk claimed the court should live on fees and fines and the judge failed to "bring in the revenue to support its expenses."

Former Monroeville judge Philip Sanchez

That's not justice. It's profiteering on one of the foundations of constitutional law.

Everybody's looking for a buck. Cities employ red light cameras to churn money, and set up speed traps on the road to the beach. They raise fees for petty offenses and roll 777s when they collect.

The fine for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in Birmingham is $60. With fees it's $230.

But the fine for failing to pick up your dog's poop -- "Failure to Properly Dispose of Dog Excrement" - is $100. With fees it's $371.

That's some poop, there.

But I digress. Instead of seeing the court system as a necessary part of government, so important it takes up half the bill of rights, it's a get-rich-quick scheme.

And people say OK. Because they think it only happens to somebody else.

To lawbreakers and ne'er-do-wells, scofflaws and criminals. But when I ask those people if they ever ran afoul of the law themselves, many assure me they've only had traffic violations or little misdemeanors.

But those are the things that have often trapped Alabamians in a cycle of debt and incarceration.

Hub Harrington

Private probation companies took over dozens of municipal courts in Alabama, charging outrageous fees and fines and jailing people who didn't have the money to pay a fine and walk away.

It took a Shelby County judge - the now-retired Hub Harrington - to see through the "judicially sanctioned extortion racket" and begin to slow it down.

Why do we care? Why should anybody care?

Because justice cannot be a business. It has to be a fundamental right. Because punishment should not be decided by ability to pay, because people have an absolute right to equal protection under the law, regardless of their financial condition.

If they don't get it, we send a profound message: To hell with them.

John Archibald's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.