Sounds like a class action suit is in order. Threaten to bankrupt the city/county and fire the chief of police and see how fast they quit writing bogus tickets. The LE can’t prove the motorists weren’t merely checking their lights and not warning anyone.
It’s all about the revenue stream.
Keep in mind that in court no one ever has to prove anything. They just have to convince a jury.
Advising someone not to break the law is crime prevention. No different than putting up a “Shoplifters will be prosecuted”sign.Nothing illegal. Greedy municipalities and cops will try anything though, unless they are sued.
Someone didn't bother clicking through to the article.
bgill wrote:
Sounds like a class action suit is in order. Threaten to bankrupt the city/county and fire the chief of police and see how fast they quit writing bogus tickets. The LE can’t prove the motorists weren’t merely checking their lights and not warning anyone.
This story is about a law firm in Oviedo FL which has successfully challenged these bogus tickets in 5 different counties for individuals. They are now filing a class action on behalf of everyone who has been ticketed for this, asking a state court in Tallahassee to rule that the fines collected must be returned, and that the Florida Highway Patrol and all police agencies in Florida should be ordered to stop writing these bogus tickets.
If one of these stops results in a real economic impact to someone (being late and missing an opportunity because of the delay being stopped and ticketed), the victim (innocent driver) would have a strong case against the police and the town/county/state to recover damages for their loss.
That depends a lot on the state and the laws.
jnsun wrote:
That is the major aspect of the problem: There IS NO jury. There are only LEO's and judges, i.e. the State self-serving community.
I was victimized by this in Georgia a few times. In Georgia, most traffic violations are still criminal offenses. This opens the door to requesting a jury trial. I'm not sure about things that have been "decriminalized."
I lived not far from a town that nearly finance their entire budget with fines from along the 4 lane highway that they annexed about 200 yards into city limits. When the state made them stop with the radar guns, they put up a stoplight and used that for their revenue source. I got stopped once there. Went to the city traffic court an I refused to sign the "waiver of jury trial" form and demanded a jury trial in the county court. That moved things out of the city traffic court. It was all about the money for the city. They didn't even send the cop to the county courthouse. I pled not guilty and won by default when the cop didn't show.
I need to find out what the law is in Florida, now that I've moved down here.