Posted on 09/13/2014 3:42:08 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
FERGUSON, Mo. — There were lots of jitters at the Ferguson police clerk’s window this week, as steady streams of drivers with unpaid traffic tickets and pending arrest warrants turned themselves in as part of a new city initiative to repair its frayed relationship with black residents.
They looked around skeptically. “I don’t know if they are going to lock me up,” said Katrina Clemons, who owes almost $800 in fines and penalties from a $250 traffic ticket. “I do not like coming here.”
The drivers came with their citations, thousand-dollar invoices, and tales of racial profiling and exorbitant fees. In the wake of last month’s killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer, their frustrations with the police and local courts had boiled over, pressuring elected city officials this week to scale back municipal penalties that had helped fill the city’s coffers even as they had lightened the wallets of the poor.
On Tuesday, the City Council decided to abolish fines that are routinely issued if a defendant fails to show up for court, repeal a “failure to appear” law that led to many incarcerations, and give people a month to come forward and void their warrants. It also created a special docket for defendants who have difficulty making payments on outstanding fines and moved to establish a civilian review board to oversee the Police Department, which is under investigation by the Justice Department’s civil rights division....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This is social justice my friends, this is what they want. The criminal if black only is allowed to committ crimes and get away with it becuase of the color of thier skin against the back drop and excuse that they are of the lower class and being held thier by white priviledge. This is a kind of criminal affirmative action
Judicial reparations.
Proof that White Flight is based on sound instincts.
I object! That policy is RACISTS against me and all whites. Definitely discrimination!!!!!
The city of Ferguson figured they would never get the money from those tickets anyway since most who received them are deadbeats anyway. You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.
Waste of time. There was no relationship before all this happened and there won't be one going forward.
Guess all caucasians have to start burning, looting, stealing and the like so we too can become “Gimedats” since that seems to be how to get all dat “free sh&t”. IDIOTIC! Why not just throw out the entire law books and forgive everything?
What the hell is happening with this country?
Ferguson introduced bills that in essence, made coming to court or addressing your citation, optional.
They are probably going to find that they are going to be alone in this legislation.
What makes St. Louis unique and perhaps negatively so is that there are 90 municipalities in one county and 58 different police departments. For instance, there are eight munis on a approximately a four mile stretch of road on Natural Bridge. Each one can write a motoris for bad plates (and do). They can also write for the big offender, no proof of insurance. This offense is an automotic suspension of license, which in turn gets a motorist arrested. So the fines stack up.
Although the muni system is problematic but due to change, the real responsibility is for the motorist to be in compliance with the law.
If the DOJ wants to come to California and force changes to the steep fines motorists pay for minor offenses, be my guest!
I predict VERY rapid “white flight” and declining property values followed by local economic contraction and gradual descent of Ferguson into bankruptcy. Which is pretty sad since it seems like a nice enough town.
“to scale back municipal penalties that had helped fill the city’s coffers even as they had lightened the wallets of the poor. On Tuesday, the City Council decided to abolish fines that are routinely issued if a defendant fails to show up for court, repeal a “failure to appear” law that led to many incarcerations, and give people a month to come forward and void their warrants.”
Question 1: How were non-payments “filling” City coffers?
Question 2: If offenders are not required to pay fines, or
show up for court dates, or do time after defaulting on paying their fines, what will be the disincentive to crime?
Message to property owners: sell for anything you can get today and run for your lives.
Tagline.
It’s still though Caucasians in MO and most other states who vote to allow all of these “policies.”
Traffic violators do.
Why would you expect them to obey/respect the law?
Traffic court don’t be accepting EBT cards?
If you are white and live in Ferguson Mo.......RUN!!!!!!
Not that these wonderful citizens vote or have a personal balance sheet, but...
Is not this municipality issuing a type of loan forgiveness/ grant to these upstanding citizens? Aren’t there tax consequences? How can this be fair to all? What about other fine citizens who paid these balances within the past year or so? Wouldn’t they have legal recourse?
How does a city maintain a charter in this state when they overturn the rule of law in this fashion?
These questions are rhetorical, of course.
Black privilege at work.
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