Posted on 12/15/2005 11:07:05 AM PST by logician2u
A man accused of selling a MARTA token to a passenger having trouble with a token machine must stand trial on the criminal charge.
Judge Stephanie Davis decided Tuesday that Donald Pirone's case should be bound over to state court for trial. Pirone could face a year in jail.
An officer spotted Pirone selling the token on Nov. 30 inside the West End subway station. Following a 1992 state law that prohibits passengers from selling tokens, the officer handcuffed Pirone and gave him a citation.
Pirone says he was trying to help a fellow passenger. He says he did not ask for money and that the passenger gave him $1.75 -- the price of a token -- out of generosity.
Example of how government screws up everything.
They make a subway system. They conclude they don't want their people handling money. They make tokens. The tokens can be counterfeited. So they make a law making it illegal to counterfeit. But that is too hard to enforce, so they simplify the enforcement by banning the sale of tokens.
If you can't sell a token, you can't make enough money to make it worth your while to counterfeit them.
Makes perfect sense, just like the law that gave farmers a tax break by including HUGE trucks from depreciation rules (Government makes taxes, then decides tax code is a good way to encourage business, makes a depreciation tax credit, business gives their executives really nice cars, government thinks that's bad, takes away credit for vehicles, farmers complain because they actually USE vehicles for business, congress puts big trucks back, Auto companies build huge luxury trucks for professionals, they buy them and depreciate them for business tax.
Then Bush comes along, accelerates business tax credits to spur the economy -- and he is accused of favoring his rich buddies giving them a tax break for Hummers.)
Damn it,man,did you just fall off of the turnip truck? Bin Laden has made it clear that he'll bring down the infidels by undermining their subway systems. (end sarcasm)
Oops! I did mean sell.
I assume by "see" you meant "sell".
No "see" is correct. You must close your eyes when purchasing them. You may only carry them in your right hip pocket. If you don't have a right hip pocket, you must get a Marta chaperone to walk you (you will be in leg irons) to deposit your token. You are also not allowed to hear about MARTA tokens. Writing about them is a Class D fel... (excuse me, I am being led away from my terminal.)
One would think the transit agency, which gets most of its income not from riders but rather from taxpayers, would want to boost the number of riders so as to look good to the gullible politicians that butter its bread.
But not here. No, they want to make it more difficult to ride their overpriced subway and threaten to throw anyone in jail who makes it any easier. (It didn't say in the article, but what do you want to bet the other party to the illegal trade in tokens was an out-of-town visitor?)
Stupidity rules in Atlanta.
I know what you're talking about..I live on 2.5 acres out in ball ground and it was really nice out here..completely dark, quiet, nothin but animals..then new neighbors moved in because they loved the country..within 30 days, they put up a gaslight because it was dark out when his wife went to work..it stays on from dusk to dawn..so yes, they move to the country for the atmosphere, then immediately start to make it exactly what they moved away from..
Your thinking wouldn't work, since this isn't a civil suit.
Looking for something in the Letter of the Law.
Thank you for the laugh!
I was told MARTA stands for Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta. Was I lied too?
Agreed.
The law needs to be judged along with the facts in this case.
They guy that moved in next to me --City Feller, may be a Tooti-Fruiti, was planting a weeping willow in the middle of his drain field. I tried to change his mind but he liked the way it looked there.
Wait till the roots get up to his sink.
I can't remember any branding campaigns for Atlanta that haven't come off as totally asinine.
Are you an accountant by chance?
Yes. I don't believe it is too rapid.
I heard about this on Boortz yesterday. I hope that the guy takes this to a jury trial, and I wish that the jury could award the guy all sorts of damages...
Mark
"This could be the year" - Atlanta Braves (1990 - present)
""High flying, rim rattling, slam dunking Atlanta Hawks" (uh, huh?)
That Travis Tritt song for the Falcons (Falcon Fever or something crappy)
"City too busy to hate (1960s - present)
Bill Campbell and/or anything from his office
I think we show pretty well!
A nation of laws .... not justice.
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.