Fenton, population 226, brings in over $1 million per year through its mayor’s court, an unusual justice system in which the mayor can serve as judge even though he’s responsible for town finances.
Fenton, population 226, brings in over $1 million per year through its mayor’s court, an unusual justice system in which the mayor can serve as judge even though he’s responsible for town finances.
“Yeah, I clocked you going 20 over”
“But I was driving the speed limit”
“Take it up with the judge”
—Later—
“You were going 20 over, pay at the desk”
“But I was going the speed limit!”
“Got any proof?”
“No?”
“Then go pay at the desk”
More like “you were going 1 mph over, the law’s the law”
Speed trap towns aren’t reasonable. That’s the point.
No way they will be satisfied with the fine for 1mph over, they are going to crank that fine up as high as they can get away with. Which sounds like a lot.
Still, going 1mph over is usually a bit less expensive of a ticket than going 20mph over is. One is a speeding ticket. The other is typically a reckless driving ticket.
The article said they only write tickets for going more than 61mph in a 50mph zone. That’s 20% over, 44% longer brake distance if there is an accident and more noise for the people living nearby.
If this happens it will be a scandal. The article only showed cases of:
“Yeah, I clocked you going 20 over”
“I’ did, but will still fight the ticket in court”
“Take it up with the judge”
“You were going 20 over, pay at the desk”
“All right, I actually did driver too fast. But it’s not fair!!!”
“Alright, go pay at the desk”
So I’ll wait until someone can actually show that evidence is faked and people are sentenced without due process, violating the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”. Because what the article showed were a lot of people who broke traffic laws, but none who were bribed or who sentenced people to fines without evidence.