My Day in Court

Okay, let's stop pretending... speeding tickets have little if anything to do with 'public safety' and everything to do with raising revenue for the police state. I am not talking about reckless endangerment or someone traveling at a rate of speed that is well beyond the flow of traffic. I am talking about going a few miles over the posted speed limit and being pulled over and ticketed as if you were a danger for exceeding an arbitrary and ridiculous minimum speed limit set by the state in order to raise money to further their useless and heinous existence.



People for the most part drive with the flow of traffic and stay within a reasonable and safe speed based on road conditions, weather, time of day and other factors. This can be observed on any given day while driving around town. Except for the occasional lunatic, traffic moves at a fairly common and prudent speed. So with exception for the occasional reckless driver, speed limits are set by the drivers and most people will only drive at speeds that are within safe and prudent speeds. This however is in no way in relation to the ridiculous and low speeds set by the state in order to raise revenue.



If the posted speed is 45 this really should be an average safe speed that could carry an upward or downward departure depending upon time of day, weather and road conditions. This is already true as it relates to downward departures of the speed limit. If for example it is dark and raining and visibility is very low and you are in a posted 45 MPH speed zone, you could be ticketed for driving 45 MPH. This is what is known as 'driving too fast for conditions' and even though you were not driving faster than the posted speed, you were supposed to have used your own judgment in determining that 45 was too fast for the current conditions.



Since it is up to us to use common sense to determine when we should exercise a downward departure of the speed limit, shouldn't the same hold true for an upward departure when road conditions are such that driving 5 to 10 miles over the posted speed would still be considered safe and prudent based on those conditions?



This was to be one of the many arguments that my attorney would use in court.



So begins my adventure ...





While driving around town one Sunday afternoon I had the misfortune of falling victim to one of the many 'speeding' traps set up by the state to raise revenue for all their future plundering. The time of day was approximately 1:00 pm, it was sunny, road conditions were perfect and traffic was light because it was a Sunday. I was traveling as I always do which is with the flow of traffic, which in this case was about 50 miles per hour in a posted 45 miles per hour state revenue enforcement area. As I approached the next intersection the light had just changed from green to yellow. I was in that position that I am sure a lot of people have found themselves in, do I slam on the brakes and attempt to stop or speed up slightly to ensure I make it through the intersection before the light turns red...I chose the latter.



By speeding up slightly I traveled through the intersection at 56 miles per hour causing the Nazi's revenue collection camera to go off. These camera's are usually set to not go off if someone is ten miles per hour or under their arbitrarily set speed trap. Since I was 11 miles over that threshold I was the one that was selected to participate in revenue enrichment for the city of Chandler, Arizona at that particular time.



A few days later I received my letter in the mail from the government notifying me that I had been selected to be a donor for the city of Chandler and to please mail in my preselected payment amount of $240.00 to them no later than 30 days from the date of their involuntary donor notice letter. Because I work for a law firm as a paralegal I have the privilege of having an attorney available when needed. This has always come in handy for me as I always seem to find myself at odds with the state.



I quickly filled out the involuntary donor notice letting them know that I declined to participate in their collection scheme and that I wanted a court date to argue my case. For the record I was well aware that I had a zero chance of winning in court. My only reason for doing this was to waste as much of the States resources and time as I could possibly manage to do. After all it seemed only fair since that was exactly what they were planing to do to me.



So the game was on ...





Game Day



We have several attorneys at our Law Firm, but we also have one who although she has graduated Law School, has not passed the bar yet and is under what is known as a Rule 38 in the legal world...or to be more precise a Rule 38E which in short means an attorney who has graduated law school, but has not passed the bar yet, can serve as counsel on certain cases such as misdemeanor and civil traffic cases. After talking with several of the other attorneys at the firm, they thought that this would not only be a great way for Charity to get more experience, but also a fun day in court for us both as well. Since I already knew that there was no chance of winning, I wanted to get something for my money, and since this was nothing more than a joke in the first place this would be worth the price of admission.



We arrived at the Chandler 'Justice' Court a little ahead of time and I was fortunate enough to see the government flunky that the state sends to court to read the pre-written script that will be the states response to why I am such a danger to society and why I need to be punished for my wrong doing (as well as be stolen from by them of course) as to teach me a lesson.



Since the judge was not in the courtroom yet I had a few minutes to harass Mr. Hitler and took full advantage of this opportunity. I made many comments about how we both knew this was a scam and nothing more than a way for the state to raise revenue, and that it had nothing to do with public safety. Surprisingly he did not disagree with me and replied, "hey I really don't care to be honest with you, they just pay me to show up." That part though was not a surprise to me, as I would have expected such a response. This attitude is no different than the Nazi's response to putting Jews in the gas chamber, "hey I was only doing my job."



So the judge comes in and the circus begins! To add a bit of irony to this matter, Charity and I knew the judge and after recognizing both of us, had to recuse herself from the matter. I of course made the comment, 'it's okay judge, I do not object to your staying on this matter." My humor was not acknowledged, nor was my request. After being informed that we would have to move to another courtroom so an 'impartial' judge could hear the case, I once again commented to Mr. Hitler that I had no objection if he wanted to remain in the courtroom we were currently in, but once again my humor and my request was not acknowledged.



As we arrived in the new courtroom the judge asked for my attorney to provide her legal documentation and bar number. Charity informed the judge that she did not yet have her bar number, but would be proceeding under the Rule 38. The judge in this matter (a pro tem judge) was not aware of this rule and had to look this up before we could proceed. After confirming that Charity was in fact correct, he told us to proceed.



The state opened by presenting several pretty pictures of me, my car, and all the surroundings in the area at the time of my heinous crime. He then began to read the pre-written script given to him by his handlers. He went over all the reasons why what I did was dangerous and evil. He covered all the bases and even was kind enough to include a copy of the radar camera's last inspection so we could be satisfied that it was in proper working order and did not give any types of false readings...this of course was to help ensure us that they want to be as 'fair' as possible in these matters and that they would never dream of trying to extract money from someone if they felt their police state technology might in some way be faulty.



After the government tool with the shiny badge and gun presented his case to the government agent in the black robe, it was our turn. Now I am sure when the judge heard that Charity was fresh out of law school that he just knew the rebuttal was going to be short and pointless to say the least...but was he in for a surprise! Charity started in right away questioning everything and making every argument she could with a straight face...and even some without a straight face. The police officer conceded several of her points and by the look on the judges face, he was in shock. The state then made their rebuttal with the usual 'speeding is against the law' mantra and then Charity gave her closing argument.



As I said in the beginning I had no illusions that I was going to win. This to me was nothing more than my way of wasting as much of their time and resources as I could, and a way to get a little entertainment for the money that I knew was about to be extracted from me. The judge then ruled on the case. It was no surprise to anyone I am sure that the government ruled in favor of the government. As my last great act of defiance (hey you have to take whatever stabs you can at the beast however small they may be) I said I would not be able to pay the fine all at once...of course I could have, but where is the fun in that? I was then asked what I could afford to pay...my response of course was how little can I pay? The maximum time allowed was 5 months, so as you could probably have guessed I took their 5 month offer. Why would anyone want to make this process of theft efficient for the state? I want to drag it out as long as possible, especially since there is no upside to paying it off early.



In case anyone is wondering in a civil matter such as this, it costs no more to go to court and lose than it does to just pay the fine, so why would I have not opted for my day in court? When it was all said and done, the judge whispered to Charity, "great job by the way." There was no question that neither he nor the Nazi police officer was expecting the arguments and the legal skills displayed by Charity on this...after all this was just a civil traffic ticket.



Well it was a win win for everyone I guess. The state extracted money out of me to further enrich the police state, Charity got a little practice in and is on her way to becoming a great attorney...and as for me, well I got my moneys worth...and that was well worth the price of admission!



The adventure continues ... stay tuned for my next episode: Click It Or Ticket. The seat belt law.