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gshPam had her day in traffic court today for her ticket for reckless. Apparently the cop tagged eight people that day with reckless for making the same illegal turn, and seems like anyone who showed up in court got it dropped to failure to obey traffic sign. Pam had been fretting over a $250 fine, she got charged $25 with fifty-seven in court costs.
She would have been a whole lot less stressed if they had ticketed her for failure to obey traffic sign a month ago.
She would have been a whole lot less stressed if they had ticketed her for failure to obey traffic sign a month ago.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-20 06:44 pm (UTC)Cops are rewarded for catching speeders. There are rarely per se ticket quotas but the number of tickets and the severity of the offenses ticketed is part of the review. Think of it this way: Cop A is out there for 8 hours and writes no tickets. Cop B writes 10 tickets, all for minor things. Cop C writes 6 tickets for more major things. This is all the data you have to evaluate them - what do you do? Well, you suspect Cop A spent his time loafing in the donut shop, you chide Cop B for wasting time on trivia, and you reward Cop C. Now, what behavior do you expect cops to show?
At the court level, people are rewarded for convictions gained, money taken in, and rapidity with which cases are processed. Option A: try to push for a big fine on a high ticket offense. Takes time, lawyers might get involved. Heck it might even get appealed. Result: No money in, time spent, and the docket gets complicated. Option B: offer a lower fine. Person is likely to take it, no lawyers, no appeals. Result: money in, case closed, lower case backlog. What behavior do you expect the courts to show?
The means by which one would introduce abstract concepts like "right," "truth," and "justice" into this system are left as an exercise for the reader. I certainly can't figure out how to do it.
--wex