Posted on 09/16/2007 8:15:23 AM PDT by buccaneer81
Man Jailed Over 50-Cent Toll Mass. Resident Considering Lawsuit
POSTED: 6:49 am EDT September 14, 2007 UPDATED: 1:18 pm EDT September 15, 2007
ROCHESTER, N.H. -- A Massachusetts man who insists his New Hampshire highway tokens are still valid just spent three days in jail because he insisted on using two tokens to pay a 50-cent toll.
Thomas Jensen, 68, of Braintree, said the state broke a contract with him and everyone else who bought tokens by refusing to accept them after January of last year. He was convicted of theft of services for continuing to use tokens after they were phased out.
‘‘I gave the state of New Hampshire money for the tokens, and I expect to be able to use them,’’ Jensen told The Patriot Ledger.
Jensen was driving to his New Hampshire summer home when he tried to pay the 50-cent toll with tokens, as he had always done.
The toll worker refused to take them and a state trooper at the plaza gave Jensen a citation.
‘‘(The trooper) said, ‘Just give him the 50 cents.’ I said, ‘I did, I gave him two tokens,’’’ Jensen told the newspaper.
Monday, a judge told Jensen he could pay a $150 fine, do community service or go to jail for three days. He choose jail.
‘‘Over my dead body was I going to give the state another dollar for the tolls,’’ Jensen said.
He told the newspaper that the jail was a clean, new facility and that the food was better than expected. He said he spent his time in jail talking with other inmates.
Jensen never told his wife he was in jail. Beverly Jensen said she only found out when asked by a television news reporter.
After being set free Thursday, Jensen said he's considering a lawsuit. He said the state should just accept tokens until they're all used up.
‘‘I just get offended by people trying to do me wrong,’’ he said. ‘‘They stole the value of these tokens from me.’’
If he had three days to spare, why not make the statement?
You could say similar things about the Founding Fathers. I for one like the spirit of this man. He is standing on principle not expediency - a rarity these days.
By the time I got it all out of my system a year and a half later (I won't give any details about how I did it), I estimate that I got away with about $500 worth of unpaid tolls.
Really?
Well, what is a principle worth now days, Buccaneer?
let me tell you a story about a man named charlie on that tragic and fateful day
he put ten cents in his pocket kissed his wife and family went to ride on the mta.
let me tell you a story about a man named charlie on that tragic and fateful day
he put ten cents in his pocket kissed his wife and family went to ride on the mta.
I understand his willingness to not pay.
Sometimes it just goes too far to sit back and allow the stupidity to continue and pay just for the convenience instead of making the point of government concern for finances outweighing the freedom of honest people.
By forcing their hand and making them either admit they were wrong or put him in jail he has laid the groundwork to sue. And on this issue I think he should. It is common practice by many government agencies to allow the use of "whatever" by citizens untill it is gone or used up. I am specifically referring to EPA regs regarding fertilizers and pesticides/herbicides. After a reg has something removed from public sale whatever is "out there" is commonly allowed to be used until it is all gone without any set time limit.
This principle alone would be enough to base the suite on but I believe there are other examples that are closer to the guys situation. Also, when the Tokens were sold there was no expiration date. It's not like a bus ticket that is sold with an expiration date and time printed on it.
I think the guy can do it and it sounds like he has the will to get in their face.
toll ping
“And on this issue I think he should. It is common practice by many government agencies to allow the use of “whatever” by citizens untill it is gone or used up.”
You mean like the US Post Office? Exactly the same issue as raising the price of a first class letter. Your old stamps aren’t good enough any more.
There you go. Make the state pay for you to be in jail. Don't give them one red cent.
I'm so proud of my state, we sure showed him. < /sarcasm >
A law like this gets enforced, as we let illegal aliens overrun our country. Mind boggling.
So the trooper arrests him, has the court date, the judge and three-days in the slammer. A lot more than 50 cents.
New Hampshire. Live Free or Die.
Another former New Hampshire resident who stood on principle - Carl Drega.
Unfortunately he may have to pay a ‘NH’ lawyer to succeed!
Yes they are. They still have their value. If stamps cost 39 cents and are raised to 41 cents, and you have a bunch of 39-cent stamps, you can buy some 2-cent stamps at the post office and use them with your 39-cent stamps to give you the needed 41-cent postage.
THAT sounds like theft of services.
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