I fought the law and...
...the law won. Fifty dollars and 20 hours of community service. What did I, an obvious deviant and danger to society do to deserve this punishment? I parked the “wrong way” in front of my own house for a total of twenty minutes in an effort to avoid getting some papers wet on a rare rainy day here in Tucson.
Although I didn’t know that what I was doing was illegal, ignorance is no excuse. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still think the whole deal is (as the French say) a load of crap, but the penalties could be much worse. The original ticket was for $150 and it is a mandatory fine according to the law. Therefore, no matter how nice the judge was, and how much I flirted with her (I mean “meekly made my case”), there was still a fine to be levied.
Is this our government at work to keep an orderly and productive society, or is it a blatant fund raising effort by the City of Tucson? I might actually become a Libertarian.
Enough for now. I have to go put on my jump suit and start picking up the garbage. See you on the interstate.
Although I didn’t know that what I was doing was illegal, ignorance is no excuse. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still think the whole deal is (as the French say) a load of crap, but the penalties could be much worse. The original ticket was for $150 and it is a mandatory fine according to the law. Therefore, no matter how nice the judge was, and how much I flirted with her (I mean “meekly made my case”), there was still a fine to be levied.
Is this our government at work to keep an orderly and productive society, or is it a blatant fund raising effort by the City of Tucson? I might actually become a Libertarian.
Enough for now. I have to go put on my jump suit and start picking up the garbage. See you on the interstate.
posted by rob at 10:06 PM
8 Comments:
That is obscene.
Community service? That is far worse than $150 fine. Let's see. What does our society pay doctors? At least $50 an hour right? So that's a $1000 fine.
I just don't get it. Seems really extreme.
It is simply not efficient to have rich people doing community service. Society would be better served by those people working and then confiscating their wages and giving them to the poor.
I agree. Fortunately, I can use the time that I already work in the free clinic towards my community service hours. At least I had the time to go to court instead of being forced to cough up $150. The supoena said that work, childcare, school, and transportation issues were no excuse for not being able to make the court date. Imagine if I were in the less economically stable portion of our population.
What the fuck???
20 hours of community service is obscene.
Would you have gotten out of that if you had just payed the $150?
I don't make anywhere close to what a "real" doctor makes, and I'd still consider that a bargain...especially since I'm not doing anything already that would be considered community service.
The community service option is only reasonable considering you have already put time towards that at the clinic. Ideally, it is like "time already served," and has no impact on future time. So this is just a $100 reduction in a fine for showing up at the court and pleading your case. Which is reasonable.
For everyone else on the other hand, $100 or 20 hours of community service? Hmm, that works out to $5 an hour, and last time I checked, there was no minimum wage in Arizona (http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm#Arizona)
I could have just paid the $150 outright, but seeing as the community service was already done, it was the better option. The other side of the issue is that I have not made $150 (even at $5 an hour) in the past four years. I am simply a sponge, and to work it off , even at the lowly rate of $5 and hour doesn't seem too bad. It's all perspective, just like the Mexican Nationals that are imported up here (legally) to sell the Moreliana ice cream from those carts, walking 16 hours a day in 110 degree heat. I have to assume that in their minds it is a better option.
Oh its not just their minds. It's their wallets.
I think I understand the fine/ community service bit now. Makes sense.
So do you have records of past community service. How do you prove it to the judge?
Ah...I see...I didn't realize that your community service counted as "time served". I understand your decision, now.
Still, in principle, that blows.
I really hate the cops in this town.
Of course, I hate the cops in most towns...
All I need is a letter from some charitable organization, on letterhead, that says I volunteered with them. As to the cops in Tucson...the ticket was not issued by one of Tucson's "Finest" but a City of Tucson parking enforcement employee.
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