MA Top Court Says You Must Pay Even if Not Guilty

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Approves Charging Innocent Ticket Recipients

Motorists issued a traffic ticket in Massachusetts will have to pay money to the state whether or not they committed the alleged crime. According to a state supreme court ruling handed down yesterday, fees are to be imposed even on those found completely innocent. The high court saw no injustice in collecting $70 from Ralph C. Sullivan after he successfully fought a $100 ticket for failure to stay within a marked lane.

Bay State drivers given speeding tickets and other moving violations have twenty days either to pay up or make a non-refundable $20 payment to appeal to a clerk-magistrate. After that, further challenge to a district court judge can be had for a non-refundable payment of $50. Sullivan argued that motorists were being forced to pay “fees” not assessed on other types of violations, including drug possession. He argued this was a violation of the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause, but the high court justices found this to be reasonable.

http://masscopblock.org/massachusetts-supreme-judicial-court-approves-charging-innocent-ticket-recipients/

I always hear the jackboot-sniffers bitch about how driving is a privilege, not a right. Well, you're gonna have to pay a lot more cash for that right now you dumbasses.

In essence, what this ruling does is assures that a traffic cop will be able to generate revenue for the courts by issuing as many tickets as possible, to anyone, for any reason, whether or not you actually committed the crime. Doing 40 in a 40, the cop can still write you a speeding ticket, not even show up for court, but you will still have to fork over $70. Well, $70 for now anyway. Here in NY state the court fee is generally $85 but can vary by offense too.

I am not going to bother going off on a whole tangent about the Constitutional right to drive here, but is seems clear enough that this is blatant highway robbery by the state revenuers called police.

Check out these links to read more about your RIGHT to drive:

http://driving.justincredible.me/

http://www.elreporterosf.com/editions/?q=node/1171

http://open.salon.com/blog/david_price/2010/12/02/driving_is_a_right_not_a_privilege