The state of Iowa collects millions of dollars in fines from people whose charges were dismissed. There's also a Catch-22: financially, you're better off guilty
All these policies have one thing in common, of course: bully those who can't fight back. Like the majority of federal tax audits directed at the poor people instead of the rich, where most fraud occurs. I wonder if that trend will continue in the new administration? (Yes, that's a rhetorical question.)
THIS is why 74 million people wanted four more years of the most grotesque, disgusting, dishonest & corrupt villain in the history of US politics: because at least he acknowledged the fact that people were getting screwed. He would piss on you and tell you he was pissing on you instead of telling you it's rain. That's why so many people were running around saying, "He tells it like it is!" And that's why so many of us still haven't figured out what's wrong with those 74 million. They're not racists, idiots, or "deplorables," they're just everyday Americans tired of getting screwed by these sneaky little bastards at all levels of government.
All it would take is ONE Democrat to stand up and say something - and follow through with solutions - to win the hearts & minds of those 74 million and then some. Instead we keep reading & hearing about the ancient socialist/centrist dichotomy. You want M4A, GND, trust in government? Then show some leadership in getting rid of these "clever" clowns running around bending poor people over barrels like this. Even the poorest among us know when they're getting screwed - which is every time they turn around.
Turns out a lot of these poor people retain the right to vote.
I never thought it was this bad, but they finally “came for me”.
I was pulled over on a Monday afternoon going for a hike and 2 cops claimed I “looked” intoxicated while driving— despite no moving violations. First, they said my registration was expired (it doesn’t expire until June ‘21) , then they said I was going too slow in a 45 (speed limit is 35), and then finally they said I was blinking too much while driving. They arrested me on spot and held me at the station for 3-4 hours. Fortunately, my tests and breathalyzer came back with nothing and I even went to an ER upon release for immediate tests of my own. All negative.
This will be dismissed and my lawyer (which will put me out $3500 for retainer) is going to go after the cops for a wrongful stop, but I will still have court fees though it will not go to trial.
If I could not afford the lawyer it would’ve been a DUI on my record, license suspended, and thousands in fines. All for driving on a Monday afternoon.
It's not just the little people. I got pulled over for having an uncovered load in my pickup on the way to the dump--not having a tarp over brown leaf bags below the top of the pickup bed. Instead of a ticket and fine, I received a court summons. Went to court to pay the fine AND $256 court fee for the privilege of taking the morning off, and sitting in a seat waiting for my chance to stand in front of a judge. This is all about bankrupt, poorly managed cities and states extracting money any way they can from anybody they can. Dirty city managers and complicit police forces.
Yo Matt, I was pulled over in Washington State about a year ago for "swerveing while driving." I'm a white guy and was under the impression that I had the "complexion for the protection" (as a non white buddy used to always tell me) but I was mistaken. I was accused of driving under the influence. So I said give me the breathalyzer- I passed. But they still took me to the nearest hospital for a blood test. They got a fast track ok from some judge and took blood against my will ,obviously, and then took me to jail. I got bailed out and the charges were then dropped. This all massively sucked and I was pissed but it wasn't over. About 4 months later I got a bill from the hospital for about 600 for the blood test that came back clean. There was no legal option but for me to pay it. I never knew the state can falsely accuse you, take your blood, take you to jail and then charge you for it. The police state is real and it's big, nasty and growing. And that's why I shoot you 5 a month. Thanks dog...
This reads like civil forfeiture, except for people who didn't have anything to seize in the first place. Each of these things enrage me and make me wonder if the world will ever get any better. I have to remind myself that with time, it seems to, even if things aren't yet what they should be.
Between the law-and-order types who worship power, and the burn-it-all-down types that want to abolish the police, this kind of reasoned yet impassioned focus on the true wonkish solutions to these problems has immense value, and I feel proud that my subscription money promotes this kind of work. Thank you, and have a safe holiday.
It's been quite a while since the justice system was actually interested in justice. Police want arrests, prosecutors want convictions, government wants money, and lawyers want to be paid.
Aside from the horrendous examples stated above from the criminal justice system, from a civil perspective the party with the deeper pockets wins by default. Which includes businesses, where a big business is free to violate a contract with a small business.
There have been many solutions proposed, but until the members of the legal profession are ready to reform the system, it won't happen. Don't hold your breath.
This story is almost as old as the country. The "Sundown Laws" found you guilty of being black after dark. It was a way of recruiting free labor for the work houses and work farms. Just another way to keep slavery as a business model.
Mentioning the Ferguson, Missouri, incident where Darren Wilson was found not guilty of wrong doing in the shooting of very large drug-crazed Black kid who tried to steal his weapon and then charged him isn't necessary for this story about Iowa.
We can agree that the government is the problem, not the solution. Yet everyone seems to want to fix the kleptocratic system. How can we fix what we do not control? The only solution is to bring it down.
Huh? As you so often accuse the media, your righteous outrage in the Mathes cases seems in service of the story you want to tell, not the facts. Had the state dismissed the case on the merits, charging costs to Mathes would indeed have been outrageous. But that’s not what you describe happened. She was guilty. And presumably because it was a first offense, and a minor one at that, the state cut her a break by dismissing the case, presumably in return for her agreeing to pay certain costs. And while it’s good copy to say she’d be better off with a conviction, that’s nonsense. For once straddled with the stigma of a criminal conviction, her job prospects, her housing choices (kiss public housing goodbye), and all sorts of other adverse collateral consequences would follow. Be outraged about the dog barking and unmowed lawn tickets, not a deal that spared Mathes a forever diminished life.
It is getting so hard not to have contempt for my country. Granted, the people in these stories (my wife calls them New York Times feature people) are rarely sympathetic. They fall into these traps after an endless series of bad and stupid decisions. But nonetheless the Law is endlessly an ass and cops are generally bad enough without turning them into the IRS with guns.
This and civil asset forfeiture are serious issues.
However, I also think officer Wilson was publicly lynched by the media. There are still people who believe officer Wilson was in the wrong. He was not. Any attempt at an apology was half-hearted and then focused on the DOJ findings mentioned by Mr. Taibbi. Here is one of those half-hearted apologies. It does make one thing clear, the blame rests with Michael Brown. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/03/16/lesson-learned-from-the-shooting-of-michael-brown/
It's hard to believe folks behave like this. Why doesn't Pelosi's DNC as the representative of the poor make an issue of this? Or is it not widespread enough to be worthy of attention, like election fraud. Oh right, class issues are just too declasse for them. Besides, this could seque into question about what the money folks donated to BLM was used for.
It's not at all funny that when you mention this type of fleecing being foisted among inner city and poor people, not one fucking smug eyebrow is raised by my friends and family that voted for Biden and the war machine he represents. Turns out it was only hip to call out racist policies as long as you were hating Drumpf.
Read also: Mentioning China's actual concentration camps, slave labor, Biden's racist bullshit, Harris' long record of fucking over poor people she imprisoned and KEPT there for labor contracts, the Republicans' compliance and the whole machine running on misery.
Nope, they'll tell you they are part of some "resistance" as they help pass out flyers for the New Death Star.
All these policies have one thing in common, of course: bully those who can't fight back. Like the majority of federal tax audits directed at the poor people instead of the rich, where most fraud occurs. I wonder if that trend will continue in the new administration? (Yes, that's a rhetorical question.)
THIS is why 74 million people wanted four more years of the most grotesque, disgusting, dishonest & corrupt villain in the history of US politics: because at least he acknowledged the fact that people were getting screwed. He would piss on you and tell you he was pissing on you instead of telling you it's rain. That's why so many people were running around saying, "He tells it like it is!" And that's why so many of us still haven't figured out what's wrong with those 74 million. They're not racists, idiots, or "deplorables," they're just everyday Americans tired of getting screwed by these sneaky little bastards at all levels of government.
All it would take is ONE Democrat to stand up and say something - and follow through with solutions - to win the hearts & minds of those 74 million and then some. Instead we keep reading & hearing about the ancient socialist/centrist dichotomy. You want M4A, GND, trust in government? Then show some leadership in getting rid of these "clever" clowns running around bending poor people over barrels like this. Even the poorest among us know when they're getting screwed - which is every time they turn around.
Turns out a lot of these poor people retain the right to vote.
I never thought it was this bad, but they finally “came for me”.
I was pulled over on a Monday afternoon going for a hike and 2 cops claimed I “looked” intoxicated while driving— despite no moving violations. First, they said my registration was expired (it doesn’t expire until June ‘21) , then they said I was going too slow in a 45 (speed limit is 35), and then finally they said I was blinking too much while driving. They arrested me on spot and held me at the station for 3-4 hours. Fortunately, my tests and breathalyzer came back with nothing and I even went to an ER upon release for immediate tests of my own. All negative.
This will be dismissed and my lawyer (which will put me out $3500 for retainer) is going to go after the cops for a wrongful stop, but I will still have court fees though it will not go to trial.
If I could not afford the lawyer it would’ve been a DUI on my record, license suspended, and thousands in fines. All for driving on a Monday afternoon.
It's not just the little people. I got pulled over for having an uncovered load in my pickup on the way to the dump--not having a tarp over brown leaf bags below the top of the pickup bed. Instead of a ticket and fine, I received a court summons. Went to court to pay the fine AND $256 court fee for the privilege of taking the morning off, and sitting in a seat waiting for my chance to stand in front of a judge. This is all about bankrupt, poorly managed cities and states extracting money any way they can from anybody they can. Dirty city managers and complicit police forces.
Yo Matt, I was pulled over in Washington State about a year ago for "swerveing while driving." I'm a white guy and was under the impression that I had the "complexion for the protection" (as a non white buddy used to always tell me) but I was mistaken. I was accused of driving under the influence. So I said give me the breathalyzer- I passed. But they still took me to the nearest hospital for a blood test. They got a fast track ok from some judge and took blood against my will ,obviously, and then took me to jail. I got bailed out and the charges were then dropped. This all massively sucked and I was pissed but it wasn't over. About 4 months later I got a bill from the hospital for about 600 for the blood test that came back clean. There was no legal option but for me to pay it. I never knew the state can falsely accuse you, take your blood, take you to jail and then charge you for it. The police state is real and it's big, nasty and growing. And that's why I shoot you 5 a month. Thanks dog...
This reads like civil forfeiture, except for people who didn't have anything to seize in the first place. Each of these things enrage me and make me wonder if the world will ever get any better. I have to remind myself that with time, it seems to, even if things aren't yet what they should be.
Between the law-and-order types who worship power, and the burn-it-all-down types that want to abolish the police, this kind of reasoned yet impassioned focus on the true wonkish solutions to these problems has immense value, and I feel proud that my subscription money promotes this kind of work. Thank you, and have a safe holiday.
It's been quite a while since the justice system was actually interested in justice. Police want arrests, prosecutors want convictions, government wants money, and lawyers want to be paid.
Aside from the horrendous examples stated above from the criminal justice system, from a civil perspective the party with the deeper pockets wins by default. Which includes businesses, where a big business is free to violate a contract with a small business.
There have been many solutions proposed, but until the members of the legal profession are ready to reform the system, it won't happen. Don't hold your breath.
This story is almost as old as the country. The "Sundown Laws" found you guilty of being black after dark. It was a way of recruiting free labor for the work houses and work farms. Just another way to keep slavery as a business model.
Mentioning the Ferguson, Missouri, incident where Darren Wilson was found not guilty of wrong doing in the shooting of very large drug-crazed Black kid who tried to steal his weapon and then charged him isn't necessary for this story about Iowa.
We can agree that the government is the problem, not the solution. Yet everyone seems to want to fix the kleptocratic system. How can we fix what we do not control? The only solution is to bring it down.
All fines raised by a state should be issued as a rebate to income/ property tax payers.
Take out all incentive for government to issue fines other than to improve law and order.
Huh? As you so often accuse the media, your righteous outrage in the Mathes cases seems in service of the story you want to tell, not the facts. Had the state dismissed the case on the merits, charging costs to Mathes would indeed have been outrageous. But that’s not what you describe happened. She was guilty. And presumably because it was a first offense, and a minor one at that, the state cut her a break by dismissing the case, presumably in return for her agreeing to pay certain costs. And while it’s good copy to say she’d be better off with a conviction, that’s nonsense. For once straddled with the stigma of a criminal conviction, her job prospects, her housing choices (kiss public housing goodbye), and all sorts of other adverse collateral consequences would follow. Be outraged about the dog barking and unmowed lawn tickets, not a deal that spared Mathes a forever diminished life.
Congratulations, you've been acquitted! That'll be $2850.57 -- credit card or cash? Taxation by another name.
It is getting so hard not to have contempt for my country. Granted, the people in these stories (my wife calls them New York Times feature people) are rarely sympathetic. They fall into these traps after an endless series of bad and stupid decisions. But nonetheless the Law is endlessly an ass and cops are generally bad enough without turning them into the IRS with guns.
This and civil asset forfeiture are serious issues.
However, I also think officer Wilson was publicly lynched by the media. There are still people who believe officer Wilson was in the wrong. He was not. Any attempt at an apology was half-hearted and then focused on the DOJ findings mentioned by Mr. Taibbi. Here is one of those half-hearted apologies. It does make one thing clear, the blame rests with Michael Brown. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/03/16/lesson-learned-from-the-shooting-of-michael-brown/
It's hard to believe folks behave like this. Why doesn't Pelosi's DNC as the representative of the poor make an issue of this? Or is it not widespread enough to be worthy of attention, like election fraud. Oh right, class issues are just too declasse for them. Besides, this could seque into question about what the money folks donated to BLM was used for.
It's not at all funny that when you mention this type of fleecing being foisted among inner city and poor people, not one fucking smug eyebrow is raised by my friends and family that voted for Biden and the war machine he represents. Turns out it was only hip to call out racist policies as long as you were hating Drumpf.
Read also: Mentioning China's actual concentration camps, slave labor, Biden's racist bullshit, Harris' long record of fucking over poor people she imprisoned and KEPT there for labor contracts, the Republicans' compliance and the whole machine running on misery.
Nope, they'll tell you they are part of some "resistance" as they help pass out flyers for the New Death Star.