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Title: Indiana: City Threatens $2500 Fines for Challenging Traffic Tickets
Source:
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URL Source: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2985.asp
Published: Dec 11, 2009
Author: Staff
Post Date: 2009-12-11 18:59:36 by Horse
Keywords: None
Views: 194
Comments: 9
Lawyer sues traffic and parking courts in Indianapolis, Indiana over threatened $2500 penalty for contesting a ticket in court. Motorists who receive minor parking or traffic tickets in Indianapolis, Indiana are being threatened with fines of up to $2500 if they attempt to take the ticket to court. A local attorney with the firm Roberts and Bishop was so outraged by what he saw in Marion County traffic court that he filed a class action suit yesterday seeking to have the practice banned as unconstitutional. "The deck is stacked against the motorist," lawyer Paul K. Ogden wrote. "To penalize that person for seeking justice seems wrong. I know it is done for the purpose of discouraging baseless challenges to tickets and clogging the docket, but in the process you are also penalizing people who have a legitimate defense and want a chance to present it to the court." The city made explicit the threat of additional fines for challenging parking tickets in a November 30 press release announcing a deal between Indianapolis and a private firm, T2 Systems, to hand over operations of a parking ticket court to increase municipal income. "Using Six Sigma process improvement strategies, it is estimated that under this program the city may collect an additional $352,000 to $520,000 in parking citation revenue over the next 12 months," the city press release stated. "If citations are not paid prior to their scheduled hearing, the city may request a fine of up to $2500 per citation. Upon receiving a judgment for an unpaid citation, individuals responsible could be subject to collections actions or having their vehicle registration suspended." In traffic court, Judge William Young has been making good on the threats by routinely siding with police officers in disputes and imposing fines of up to $500 on anyone who challenges a moving violation ticket, no matter how minor, and loses. Those who pay without going to court do not face this extra fine. "Unfortunately what you have happen a lot of times is that judges aren't particularly worried about whether what they're doing may be violating the law as the odds of someone ever appealing a $400 traffic ticket is remote," Ogden wrote. "I see it all the time. Trial judges flouting the law knowing they are unlikely to ever be challenged on an appeal because the litigants can't afford it." Ogden is specifically representing three motorists affected by court policies. Toshinao Ishii received a ticket for driving 63 MPH in a 55 zone in February. Had he paid the ticket without challenge, the fine would have been $150. After Judge Young sided with the police officer in court, Ishii was fined $550. Motorist Matthew Stone was told by his doctors not to wear a seatbelt over his chest as it could damage his cardiac pacemaker. He received a $25 ticket for wearing his seatbelt "improperly." After reading that he would face a $500 fine, Stone gave up his intention of challenging the citation. Adam Lenkowsky, who did not receive a ticket, attempted to attend a traffic court proceeding on September 23, 2009. He was barred from the court, despite the state constitutional requirement that court proceedings be open. Ogden argues the court's practices in the first two cases violate the excessive fines clause of the state constitution as well as the clause requiring that "all penalties shall be proportioned to the nature of the offense."
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#1. To: Horse (#0)
Fuck the revenue agent pigs. In fact, SHOOT THEM and get away with it if you can...IMO
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That is unconstitutional, you have a constitutional right to defend yourself in court.
Yeah, Ol' Dakmar P. Dakloids should call the Konstitution Kops and have them-there people arrested. God knows the goob would never allow the Konstimuhtooshun to be violated.
Ha Ha Ha. Didn't you know.? The constitutional rights don't apply to the citizens of Indiana anymore.
Speaking merely for the sake of discussion, it is important to avoid doing this if you are in any way connected with a particular case. Certain crimes can be committed with virtual impunity if you are careful about leaving any evidence. Got your plastic bodysuit to avoid leaving DNA? Don't forget fingerprints, tire tracks, empty shell casings, etc. However, you would need to arrange to be alibied and should never act on a case in which you are in any way connected.
Have you been eating cheese outa the mousetraps again, S.O.?
In 2007, the FBI reported on concern about white supremacists recruiting soldiers, saying "hundreds" of neo-Nazis were in the active military. But in April, a Department of Homeland Security report on extremism that reiterated much the same point was widely criticized by veterans groups and some conservative politicians as being unpatriotic, leading the Justice Department to retract the DHS report. Critics acknowledge that extremism in the Army is a touchy political subject. that's not exclusive to Indiana.
A local attorney with the firm Roberts and Bishop was so outraged by what he saw in Marion County traffic court that he filed a class action suit yesterday seeking to have the practice banned as unconstitutional.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams 
#2. To: Horse (#0)
#3. To: Horse (#0)
#4. To: Horse (#0)
Motorists who receive minor parking or traffic tickets in Indianapolis, Indiana are being threatened with fines of up to $2500 if they attempt to take the ticket to court. A local attorney with the firm Roberts and Bishop was so outraged by what he saw in Marion County traffic court that he filed a class action suit yesterday seeking to have the practice banned as unconstitutional.
#5. To: PaulCJ, Dakmar (#4)
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#6. To: PaulCJ (#4)
unconstitutional,...
#7. To: Rotara (#1)
Fuck the revenue agent pigs. In fact, SHOOT THEM and get away with it if you can...IMO
#8. To: Esso (#5)
Yeah, Ol' Dakmar P. Dakloids should call the Konstitution Kops and have them-there people arrested. God knows the goob would never allow the Konstimuhtooshun to be violated.
#9. To: sizzlerguy (#6)
The constitutional rights don't apply to the citizens of Indiana anymore.
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