Today I had to go with Cody for his pretrial hearing. He was caught fishing in a forbidden stream. There were no signs posted and nothing to show that it was a closed stream. When Cody went in, I was not allowed because he is 17, they found him guilty. It was posted in a book that he got with his fishing license. He is suppose to remember every stream. Ignorance is not a excuse. Here is a young man who decides to fish and stay out of trouble. He was hit with $120.00 fine. When we went to collection I asked how they expect him to pay this fine if he doesn't have a job? I explained that he is in high school. He should drop out of school, get a job so he can pay his fine. This is another great example of how our court system fails. If he doesn't find a way to pay this fine, they would put him a jail. I don't know who is more ignorant. DNR busting a young kid for fishing in a unmarked, and closed stream. I know, they were just doing their job. DNR's failure to mark the stream and use the excuse of, "it's in the handbook, you should have known." The court failure to look at the big picture and just be more concerned about not hurting the DNR's feelings. It is the courts rational that for example, the state does not need to post speed limits on the highways because everyone know what it is. You should not need to post no trespassing signs because it is understood that trespassing is forbidden. It's the law and we as citizens should know all the laws, speed limits, and other minor things, should be memorized. Ignorance is not an excuse.
If you spend time and listen to people at the county court house and you will understand how a system can go so bad. One women was there on an arrest warrant for shoplifting. When walking thru a store, her young daughter reached out and took a $1.50 pin. She was found guilty because her daughter is her responsibility. A man was found guilty because his dog got out of a fenced in yard. His dog was licenced, but because he was running free, he was fined over $100.00. The law is the law. this was the first time that his dog got loose.
We need reforms, not obscure fines that nickel and dime us to death. The next time someone says that our prisions are overcrowded, or that crime has risen, stop and see what laws are being violated.
I could have hired a lawyer to defend Cody, but that would be cost prohibitive. Once again they are hoping to feed the system. I was prohibited from defending Cody because he is an adult in their eyes, and since I was not a lawyer, I was not allowed in. These are some of the reason that crime has risen. People will just pay the fine and plead guilty. It is cheaper. Guilty until proven guilty.
Life in general
1 comment:
Judges were first invented to be wise administers of law, with a heart for people and an understanding of the realities of a situation. Unfortunately, with the advent of the modern lawyer, judges have become enforcers of the system, rather than it's governance. The result is a system that claims balance, but is largely unchecked.
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