Posted on 06/27/2015 4:13:04 PM PDT by Hojczyk
Casey Campbell served two tours in Iraq, but the fight of his life is in California.
After driving without a seat belt and no front plate, he got a $25 traffic ticket that jumped to $300 with assessments and surcharges. Unable to pay in full, the ticket rose to $600, and then $819 when he missed a court date.
The state automatically took his driver's license and turned the ticket over to a collections agency. Police later impounded his car when he drove to work on a suspended license. Unable to make a living, Campbell ended up broke and homeless.
"It was $4,000 for two citations," Campbell said, standing on a street corner in West Los Angeles. "And once the ticket went to collections, the judge said there's nothing he could do. It just snowballed. At a certain point, there's just no way to get back on your feet."
Critics call California's traffic citation system a scam, a money-making racket that has nothing to do with justice. That’s because a typical $100 ticket – say, driving without proof of insurance -- jumps to $290 with state penalties; to $416 with court construction assessments; and to $490 with surcharges for emergency medicine and DNA collection. If you fail to pay the full fine immediately, it adds a $325 penalty, making the cost $815.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“...After driving without a seat belt and no front plate, he got a $25 traffic ticket ...”
******************************************************************************************************
Lesson learned (or should have been learned): If you do something stupid (or just with negligence) and get a ticket...PAY THE DAMN TICKET AND PAY IT ON TIME.
Veteran or no veteran, there’s nobody to blame but the person neglecting to pay the ticket.
Yes, but have the Fullerton PD stopped beating homeless people to death?
Tickets have gone from $100 to $300 or more because California is tacking on extra fees to cover court costs and other stuff. That was bogus to begin with as most people just mailed in their fines; collection fees were minimal. Only about 10% of people contested their tickets. Now because of the exorbitant fines, 40% are contesting their tickets. So guess what? Court costs are up; traffic courts are getting backed up; law enforcement officers are having spend more time waiting around in traffic court (well, maybe the latter’s not all bad as they can’t be giving tickets while they’re in court).
I moved out of Kali-Fornia in 1994, and do not miss it one iota!
So you don’t have a problem with skipping court dates, then driving while license is suspended?
You ignored my initial question about a $25 ticket becoming a $300 ticket when all the fees and assessments were added. Then when he couldn’t pay the $300 “in full”, the ticket doubled to $600. Maybe he couldn’t pay it ‘in full’ because, you know, he had rent, electricity, or needed to buy food for his family.
Note at this point, all he’s done is get a $25 ticket and not be able to pay $300 ‘in full’.
Who knows why he missed a court date? Maybe like the other guy in the story who got a parking ticket, missed his court date because he was in the hospital, and had his license suspended.
Oh, the humanity. Who the hell does he think he is, a FREE man? Roadside execution would be too good.
Water has high costs and must be paid!
Pikers. Same offense in Illinois starts at $500.
In Illinois, you can pay the cop that writes the ticket and he will give you a receipt.
The thing that is REALLY beginning to bug me about the gruberment (and has been for quite a while) is the way they can play Tag! You're It! unilaterally, while you get the bird when you either respond or try to get THEM to do something.
There is no surety in correspondence to THEM, or direct contact with them, but if they send YOU something, their assumption is that you got it, whether you got it, or not.
The jerkweeds burn enough of our time daily with their various intrusions (see my home page) that any free person should resent mightily their heavy hand reaching out to steal more time and money.
Old truck + lonely old road sign...
They probably cost about $300-$500 to replace...
You ignored my initial question about a $25 ticket becoming a $300 ticket when all the fees and assessments were added.
***************************************************************************************************
If he had paid $25 initially to satisfy the ticket, that would have been it...the matter would be closed. Where people get into trouble is that they ignore the tickets initially and don’t pay it. The government overlords LOVE people that ignore their tickets as it gives them the opportunity to add late fees, penalties, etc, etc. So either pay the $25 ticket or go to court (at the time of the initial ticket) to contest it and pay whatever comes out of that hearing. Going to court instead of simply paying can sometimes cost more when court fees are added in.
They can't guard every road sign.
How much does a road sign cost to replace?
Revenue Neutral: it's what's for dinner. :)
"They send one of your paychecks to the hospital, you send one of their road signs to the morgue"
See, they RELY on you peasants being snivelling little bee-atches, and cutting a check to fund the metastasizing of their operations.
I think the Russians called it "scorched earth", during WWII...
Old truck + lonely old road sign...
**********************************************************
Sounds like a plan to me. Unfortunately it won’t put a dent in their generous pensions and other benefits.
I don't think anyone is saying we don't need traffic laws, fines and enforcement. It's amount which is being taken exceeds reasonable. And it keeps creeping up similar to what insurance rates do. ☺
Currently 4 million Californians -- 17 percent of the state's adult population -- have a suspended license for failure to appear or pay.
Didn't pay? At these prices? I am not surprised at all.
My point is there are lots of folks who can pay this easily. Unfortunately there are a lot more who can't. When they realize what the total is, assessment bonuses etc, they see doom. Over a traffic ticket? The fines and penalties need to be reasonably punitive IMO.
“...Over a traffic ticket? The fines and penalties need to be reasonably punitive IMO.”
******************************************************************************************************
The initial story is about a $25 ticket that the person ignored. Anything costs above the flat $25 (that would have settled things COMPLETELY if paid, and paid on time without the need to go to court) were due to late fees, penalties and interest. The individual was, IMHO, an idiot for not simply paying the $25 initially. By not doing so he put himself at the mercy of the government which CLEARLY views such neglect as an opportunity for raising revenue.
I fully understand that point. Review my post, that’s what I was referring to. Maybe I didn’t explain well.
If he had paid $25 initially to satisfy the ticket,
______________________________________________________
Read the article. There was never just a $25 ticket. Yes the fine was $25, but by the time they add all the fees, assessments, court costs, etc., the amount he owed from the beginning was $300. That’s the whole gist of the article.
He never owed just $25.
if you read this it was a cheap ticket that he did not have the money to pay that later became obscene because he ignored the ticket and did not pay or show up in court and ask for community service. what is the state to do if you ignore it, and also traffic infractions are crimes they just are not serious crimes and are treated as such..
Forget the individual - you missed the real point of the story -- how a liberal/progressive State screws its folks with outrageous fines via "hidden surcharges".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.