For people living under threat of arrest around St. Louis, a constant stress

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | September 20, 2014 | Jeremy Kohler

[BunnySlippers]

Beverly Hills doesn’t have speed traps. There are many other ways to get tickets there ... I’ve done it.

[boop]

According to the picture, she has three tickets in front of her.

If I got popped three times for speeding, I'd slow down.

Particularly if I didn't have the money to pay them.

And yes, it sucks, but it DOES say on moving violations they'll bench warrant you if you don't pay or appear.

Somebody reading the story will pay these for her, but she's got to act like she has some sense.

BTW, how did the newspaper find this lady?

[Rockingham]

Illness, poverty, and compelling family obligations can cause otherwise responsible people to fall behind on tickets, insurance, licensing, and registration. When that happens, new civil and criminal charges ensue and fees mount up. Arrest and vehicle impound can then follow, with added expense and damage to reputation and employment.

For many police agencies and the jurisdictions they serve, this system generates substantial revenue. Yet does a system with such a predatory nature represent good public policy? Is the burden imposed on the poor and unfortunate a necessary and just burden? Is the damage to relations between the police and the public balanced by the benefits? And what are those benefits anyway?

Being a law and order conservative ought not to make one a supporter of predatory government policies. Unnecessarily making the poor and overburdened into criminals is wrong -- not because of sympathy for them but because such criminalization is foolish and unjust. Conservatives should not be deaf to such arguments or blind to the facts they are based on.

[Eagles6]

The pRESIDENT doesn’t follow the law, why should I?

[Shimmer1]

Then don’t break the law. Something caused those tickets, cease doing that immediately. DUH

[Organic Panic]

With 20/20 hindsight this woman probably realizes she should have just gone to court and arranged payments or community service.

Stupid woman. But if she’s smart she will change her name to Gomez and no habla ingles.

[glorgau]

Preach it. The judicial industrial complex is just like that talking plant in "Little Shop of Horrors", constantly saying "feed me".

[ronnie raygun]

Im stressed because if I committ a crime I might be harrassed or arrested. funny

[Vinnie]

This the Onion isn’t it?
No! The twit reporter sympathizing with a woman who illegally parks, then doesn’t pay her fines, ignores court summons and we supposed to care??
Incredible!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

A certain Barack Hussein Obama had an arrest warrant for outstanding parking tickets in Cambridge, Massachusetts, stemming from his days as a graduate student at Haavaad Law. Prior to the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston, he made a splash on the local news by flying in from Illinois to make a pre-arranged court appearance to pay them off.

[bitterohiogunclinger]

“And we’re locking up people who have no means to repay who don’t constitute a real threat to society”

Your right. We should wave all fines and laws for people on welfare or those with low paying jobs just for social justice. /s

[Molon Labbie]

I work in St. Louis County as a police officer and having worked court many, many times, I can directly attest to how many citizens either fail to appear, and subsequently get a warrant and an instate DL suspension, or come to court just to plead guilty, which you are not even required to do. If you don’t wish to contest, pay or make payment arrangements at anytime before the court date.

Further, the judges have this annoying habit of telling the defendant they can plea guilty with an explanation, which is just an opportunity for a long winded diatribe of “What had happened was...”.

Very few traffic court defendants have any money or say that they don’t. So the judges started telling the officers to detain them until they could make a phone call and arrange for money to be brought up. Brother, you should see the money come in then.

Compound this with having 58 municipalities in one county, some of the having 14 police officers for 600 citizens (like the Beverly Hills PD the story mentions, whose officers make 12 dollars an hour) and you can see how it can get out of control.

[trebb]

They’re speed traps. Cops are in the revenue collection business. A speeding ticket is a tax. They collect it whether or not you’re guilty.

I recently got a ticket from a Trooper (while on a regualr road). I was going with the flow of traffic and was acutely aware of my speed - we were all going 58 in a 55 zone. he almost rear-ended me pulling up and I thought he wanted to go by so I popped into the right lane. he did a serious (could hear his tires squeal) lane change and turned on his lights so I pulled over. He cited me for 74 in a 55 zone. I asked where he had clocked me and how, and he said," a little ways back and with RADAR. I asked if he couldn't have made a mistake and he got testy. No way for me to prove it and 19 over is just below the 20 over that kicks in big enough problems to make a lawyer worth while - cost me $196 and I had no real recourse but to pay it.

[leapfrog0202]

Very few traffic court defendants have any money or say that they don’t. So the judges started telling the officers to detain them until they could make a phone call and arrange for money to be brought up. Brother, you should see the money come in then.

---

Thanks for the insight. It always helps to know how it works from someone that’s been there and been involved.

The part I particularly noticed was above. It’s just as I figured it. If the person were held, somehow money was found to pay the fine. I agree with that idea. If this had happened in the case the arcle is based on, she would never have gotten a warrant and be in this mess.

[dfwgator]