so i go to court yesterday and it cements my view that the 'law' don't work

it all seemed very robotic and unorganized. the prosecuter didn't have any reports in front of her and after the judge read the report, the prosecuter then had to read the report. why, i don't know.

there was a guy that was fishing and he was charged with bringing in 37 perch instead of the limit of 30. his fine was a whopping $10 and $65 in court costs. same for a girl with a busted tail light. then it is my turn.

i was charged with discharging fireworks.
he called my name and i walked up and he told me what i was charged with and i plead guilty. the prosecuter starts to read the report and she was reading someone elses all together. i tried to tell the judge it was wrong but he silenced me and said i would have a chance to talk. when she finished, i alerted him that she read off my neighbors report and maybe she can read mine. so, i had to sit through her reading mine.

now time for my punishment and THIS is where i am confident i am paying for a doughnut fund.
my fine for discharging fireworks is $250. i also have to pay court costs which are $65. then, since i asked for a bit of time to pay it, they said yes but added $25 on for the payment plan. and here is the best part.
the judge gave me ten days in jail but he suspended it to put me under 'observation'...i did not exactly know what it meant so i asked the judge and he said "i am suspending the 10 days in jail for the next 12 months. if in this next 12 months you get in trouble for ANY crime, you will owe me ten days for this and the MAXIMUM for the new crime.
then, i get charged $50 to be put under observation.

so, i get busted for a tail light, broken signal or anything like that, and i go straight to jail for 10 days, cause of fireworks on the fourth.

after seeing what went on in court, i have no doubt in my mind that it is nothing more than a robotic system to make money for the state. i know there are rules that society places on us BUT, i also think that man, sometimes you just have to look the other way.
you have to pop a dude for bringing in too many fish? you have to pop the young girl and make per pay a total of $75 cause she had a broke tail light.
i mean, whatever happened to the cop telling her that it is busted and she must get it fixed? you know, a warning
why couldn't the cop just take the dudes extra fish and put em back in the water?

what i am getting at is when did it become all about busting people and crap like that?
oh yeah, as the prosecuter read off some reports, she definately made sure to put emphasis on certian things like "your honor, officer turd pulled over kaite after seeing her broke tailight and as he was explaining it to her, he noticed an INTENSE SCOWL on her face"....crap like that

also, i was already uptight before we got in the room.
before you can enter court, you have to go through the metal detectors.
now, i walk through and it went off so they wave the wand over me and of course it is my belt. they frisk me anyway. then, they physically look into my wifes purse, then they run it through the belt. she walks through the metal detector, it don't go off and they frisk her anyway.
they allowed us to go into the court with our cell phones, but the lady in front was not allowed to bring in her pocket sudoku book. i couldn't figure that one out.
i know you can blow up things via cell phone but what harm is a sudoku book?

all in all, i stick by my favorite quote of
"the united states is a nation of laws, badly written and randomly enforced"

Its not about justice anymore, Its about what is legal.

Justice doesnt play into it anymore

it's about what they can bust you for and how much they can collect. thats my perspective anyway

Your perspective is correct and its the reason I left the law enforcement profession years ago.

Your perspective is correct and its the reason I left the law enforcement profession years ago.

I wonder where all their fees go. I think it is just absurd that they charge so much for so silly a thing. $250+ for fireworks and such. They could of just given you a warning but no, so pathetic. That really is too bad and what is up with this watching you thing? And they charge you for it. Ahh, that makes me upset, something similar happened to my brother. Judges are so pathetic sometimes, they are also on a power trip. The system is terrible. I am lucky so far I usually just get warnings from the police, unless its a woman cop. It seems they are always out to prove something(at least the ones where I live)always on a power trip.

paigcal, it really is wild. judge said $250 and costs and when i went to the clerk it started racking up.

this $50 for having me under observation must be some sort of slush fund or some damn thing. it's not like i am chipped or they are actively doing anything. it says something in the computer i assume.
if i get popped for anything then i do the ten days that was suspended from this. that costs $50???
i guess. in total it came to $390 plus the 12 months observation for the 10 days crap.
the whole deal just blew my mind.

They have to get money to pay for the flat screen tv's in city hall and all the laptops for the attorneys and the court staff. Our city hall has 3 flat screen tv's when you walk in. It makes no sense, on why they need that, especially when they don't have anything on them.

It's a business like anything else... Welcome to capitalism!

Originally posted by JessicaS
They have to get money to pay for the flat screen tv's in city hall and all the laptops for the attorneys and the court staff. Our city hall has 3 flat screen tv's when you walk in. It makes no sense, on why they need that, especially when they don't have anything on them.

It's a business like anything else... Welcome to capitalism!

too funny you mention that.
almost directly behind the judge was what i was guessing would be a 42 or a 47 inch flat panel tv hanging on the wall. turned off but looking shiny.
don't know what it's for though

It's so true though... and i don't know what they are used for either. Who in there right mind needs 3 of them on the wall? Why is one needed in court? It's so silly.

I noticed that you said the judge started reading your neighbour's report of the incident first, and then your report. So was your neighbour the one who called the cops on you for fireworks? If so, that is completely lame. If I were you, I would light a paper bag full of , leave it at your neighbour's door, ring the doorbell, and watch hilarity ensue.

no...
my neighbor got popped too

So, wait... you're not allowed to fire off fireworks on your independence day?

Wow... that's... kinda retarded.