CruizingAZ, again thanks for what you do and your fellow brothers and sisters in law enforcement. Please continue to differ and voice your opinion.
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Originally Posted by CruisingAZ
..... Fines are not primarily for revenue generating, those fines pay for our legal system which we all fight to keep as well as the salaries of the law enforcement officers that keep us safe but the fine is much more than that.
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But I think you made my point, it is a revenuing scheme. Not set up by you, but a revenuing scheme none the less.
As you have your perspective, I have mine. I know of multiple small business owners with lawyers on retainers, that on a regular basis plead down moving violations (non DUI, non accident related) to non moving violations (parking fines) or exercise the system to “win” (discovery, change dates, etc.). How is that justice when a working stiff and the working poor can’t afford to do that. Uneven justice is not justice and clearly only slightly effective as a deterrent as there is a never-ending line of new tickets to write. Even a "fair" reverse semi-random lottery is not a deterrent and a sure sign of a flawed deterrent.
Do we really think someone making 6 figures or more is deterred by the $100 fine?
Most people I know pay the fines because they lack the resource to fight them and this is why the system is so profitable and becoming the source for even more revenuing schemes like traffic violation cameras. Which are run by outside companies that take a slice of every ticket to line their private pockets. Foxes in henhouses are never a good thing. If one personally benefits from what one does, then one cannot be seen as impartial.
A better deterrent would be immediate loss of driving privileges for 2 weeks per point. But would the public stand for that on their first ticket? Want to see an uprising and the courts clogged with cases. Money greases the wheels of justice, that is not the same as justice.
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Originally Posted by CruisingAZ
..... It is true that we have laws that make no sense, but they did to someone at some time and that is why they are laws, you can choose to obey them or change them, but ignoring them is never the right answer and trying to get out of a fine after you violated the law that you knew about by lieing or deceiving the court is pathetic.
I do not make the law, but I do enforce it. And I enforce it evenly across the board. Not everyone gets the ticket but if they get it they deserved it because they violated the law. I believe in treating everyone fairly, that does not mean that everyone who is driving 20 over the limit is getting a ticket, it means everyone I come in contact with will be treated with courtisy and respect, who gets the ticket is based on so much more.
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Every citizen is entitled to their day in court. It is the job of the Gov to prove their guilt, not for a citizen to admit their guilt (5th amendment). And as honest and fair as most law enforcement folks are, they are not the judge or the jury. As a citizen if you waive your rights for expediency, convenience, or remorse, good for you. But don’t condemn those who choose to defend their rights and force the system, to prove them guilty. And if the system fails the public and the “perp” goes free, don’t blame the “perp” for not manning up.
Government funding of all things is messed up, but the idea that a police force is funded by catching people breaking driving laws is too cozy to not be suspect. Too close of a connection to not to be seen as self-serving and you should not be surprised by such public skepticism of such a system. Need new cars, write more tickets, need a new headquarters building or court house with A/C, write more tickets, want more overtime, write more tickets, etc..
Want to really crack down on all sorts of violations (moving and civil), use cameras everywhere and some 3rd party clearing house to process violations with tickets mailed to drivers with immediate license suspensions for some number of days. Soon we are back at 1984.
Oh and last but not least, “civil disobedience”. There were many laws in our recent past that were wrong and I for one am glad others before me chose a path of civil disobedience to get them changed. So who am I to say that violating a bad traffic law isn’t an act of civil disobedience? I’m sure law enforcement in Montgomery and Selma thought they were just doing their jobs too at the time. Might and the majority are not always right.
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