Reading about the law and experiencing its effects are drastically different. I have experienced first-hand how distorted and manipulated the law can be.
While driving along the freeway at night, I noticed up ahead that there was a police car along the side of the road, and the driver’s door was open and sticking out into my lane just a little. I moved over to the lane on my left to avoid the door and as I did, the cop car behind me turned on its lights and pulled me over. The officer said I was weaving.
I was taken to jail, as the officer assumed I had been drinking. I had not.
I was released shortly after being put into a cell. That following week I had to take time off work to go to court.
When the judge called my name, a court appointed lawyer stood up and said, “He pleads guilty, your honor.”
So, I stood up and said, “That’s less than truthful your honor.”
That’s when the judge said, as he looked at the paperwork in front of him, “I don’t even know why you are here. There was no alcohol in your system at all.”
Then he looked up at
me and said I could get a lawyer and return to fight the case, or I could plead
guilty to two illegal lane changes.
As I could not afford to take more time off work, and could never afford a lawyer, I said OK, to two lane changes.
He smacked his gavel and said, “$25.00 each. Pay the clerk on your way out.”
So for doing nothing wrong, I lost a day’s pay, had to pay $50.00 and my car insurance went up for an entire year.
I discovered later
that the money collected goes directly into the judge’s retirement fund. There was no way they were going to let me
out of there without first squeezing everything they could out of me.
That is a true story
and how my view of American Justice ended up just a little skewed.
ZC
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