The tyranny of a traffic ticket for poor people of color

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

When Philando Castile was pulled over in July, it was at least his 46th traffic stop — almost all related to fairly minor traffic violations. And it would be his last.

By the end of the stop — reportedly in part over a broken taillight — a police officer, apparently scared that Castile was grabbing for a gun, shot and killed the 32-year-old. Castile’s girlfriend then live-streamed the immediate aftermath on Facebook, calmly retelling the story of how a minor traffic stop for a low-level offense turned into a death sentence.

Castile’s story isn’t unique. Eric Garner, Samuel DuBose, Sandra Bland — these are just a few of the victims of police and the criminal justice system over the past several years, but they all fall into the same basic framework: A routine stop or arrest for a low-level offense went horribly wrong, leaving someone dead after they were accused of a misdemeanor or crime that typically doesn’t even involve prison time.

The tragic outcomes show just another way low-level offenses can trap someone for life — and even to death — in the criminal justice system. For starters, every one of these encounters carries a risk that something will go terribly wrong — as it did for Garner, DuBose, Bland, and Castile.

But the system can also make these encounters happen frequently, and with increasing weight in a person’s life. It begins with one ticket or a traffic stop. But if someone can’t afford to pay that fine, police might try to stop or arrest him or her again to get the person to pay up.

This can lead to someone getting fined again for not paying up the first time. And again. And again. One ticket leads to a vicious cycle that can sink someone for life.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-tyranny-of-a-traffic-ticket/ar-BBvhXH5?li=BBnb7Kz

[villager]

1. Tickets are only about asymmetrical taxes on poor people.

And cops are the collectors/shakedown artists, with a very acute interest in their own self-funding. (As the courts have, as well).

It has pretty much zero to do with any kind of "safety."

[yeoman6987]

2. The last time I got a ticket, I went to court.

I don't bother with police anymore. I just take the ticket and go on my way. Then in court I give my side and its dropped. Police are not worth trying to explain anything to. If enough would just go to court, the police would eventually look bad. But majority just pay thes wrongful tickets or argue about them. A better tactic is grab it and go.

[awoke_in_2003]

3. You still have to pay court fees

and take time off from work. Many people can't do this.

[villager]

4. Exactly. I've gotten tickets "let go" as well, but that's because my time is far more flexible than

...the average American worker.

Cops and courts know this.

But I agree that if anyone can fight a ticket, they should.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. I work second shift

So I fought my last one and won. I also am white, which, sadly in this country, probably helped.

[yeoman6987]

9. The court fees are nominal compared to the ticket

I tpically take a Friday afternoon court date to minimize time off to 4 hours instead of a whole day. To prove a cop wrong it's worth losing a few hours.

[awoke_in_2003]

11. I guess it depends on the city

Getting out of my $100 took $80 in court fees. Luckily I work second shift, so I didn't miss work.

[yeoman6987]

12. Oh my gosh! Criminal. 80 dollars for a 100 dollar ticket

I've never paid more then 35 dollars for court costs. Fines were varies. That's crap you had to pay that.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. That particular city

generates a lot of their revenue from traffic violations, but they are not quite as bad as Euless, TX, which is pretty notorious.

[yeoman6987]

14. I am so sorry the city is basically grifting people.

[awoke_in_2003]

15. Yep...

and it is a lower middle class neighborhood, so I bet they are fleecing their own residents.

[Waldorf]

7. When I see somebody run a red light I always hope a cop is here to write them up. I don't care

if their white, black, green etc. Old or new car, or whether they are rich or poor.

[villager]

8. I never see cops write that up. It's usually for "bad lane changes," etc.

...which in turn, of course, are fishing expeditions.

See post #6 below, for what an actual ticket write-up experience tends to be like.

[yeoman6987]

10. I'd make a terrible cop

I don't know whose driving what. I was a witness to a car crash and every statement I made was wrong including ethnicity and race and even sex. I am not observant at all.

[Throd]

6. I recently got popped for $480 for making a right on red without fully stopping.

It will be over $520 when I'm done with it all. For me, it is a major pain in the ass. For others, it could be a devastating spiral into the black hole of the legal system.