Posted on 07/12/2007 9:06:43 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
A few weeks ago, David Bennett turned off Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades and pulled into a nearly vacant parking lot at Temescal Gateway Park to use his cellphone.
When he was finished, he passed a stop sign at Temescal Canyon Road and continued back to Sunset.
Then he heard from the state authority that runs the park and other open spaces along the Santa Monica Mountains.
"They sent me a letter telling me I didn't really stop," said the Malibu contractor. "They said it was a 'courtesy' letter because they weren't collecting the fine yet."
That will change next week when the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority plans to start issuing $100 tickets to motorists who don't come to a complete stop at five stop signs equipped with cameras. ----
"What they're doing is not legal," said Jack Allen, a retired Beverly Hills city attorney who spent 10 hours at Temescal Gateway Park counting cars exiting the parking lot and measuring speeds on the nearby street with a radar gun. "The first thing I learned as city attorney was that the state vehicle code preempts any local ordinance."
The vehicle code allows camera enforcement at rail crossings and intersections with automated traffic signals. It requires "a clear photograph of a vehicle's license plate and the driver of the vehicle."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
“Three Mississippi.”
Paraphrased from the article:
“It’s for the money.”
“No, it’s for the CHILLLLLLL-DRRRRREEEEEENNNNNNNNN!”
Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and other rights of the accused.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
God help us all when they start installing the jaywalking cams.
They’ll need night vision and thermal for at night. I’ll go out wearing all black and they won’t see me.
Just demand to confront your accuser. A camera cannot be cross examined and therefore all evidence from the camera should be thrown out of court.
If these devices are in a somewhat remote or lightly populated area, I can’t imagine that they would last very long.
Certain “environmental factors” would come into play. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
Abuse of power under color of authority has always been a problem. No power is more easily abused than a bureaucrat's power to collect money.
The good news is that it's easy to identify whom to fire in this case. Regardless of who came up with the idea (who should also be fired) the buck has to stop somewhere.
People who blow stop signs are one of my pet peeves. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve nearly been rear-ended by some idiot was PO’d that I actually stopped for one. That said, this stuff makes my Sicilian blood boil.
The citizens need to make it very unprofitable for them to maintain these cameras. In a society that valued its freedom, those cameras wouldn’t stay functional for long.
If people running that stop sign are a serious problem, then at random times station a cop there and nail them. The fines should cover the cost of the cop and once word gets around the problem will go away.
9mm environmental factors, by chance???
___
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. <.i>
“These ticket issuing cameras operate in violation of the Sixth Amendment:”
Ask the people who got those tickets in DC — so far, the high courts don’t agree with you.
I was thinking more along the lines of baseball bats and 12 gauges.
lol
I always got a kick out of the “Speed Limit Enforced by Aircraft” signs.
I picture someone up in an F16 ready to shoot speeders.
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