money machine and double standard in traffic court (Somerset: appointed, lawyers)
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I had an accident as I bumped my van on another car taking left tuenn. Both cars are towed but no personal injuries. I got a ticket for carless driving. This is the first time ever happened. Whats next?
How much is fine and point?
You can look up all that info online, as far as advice, there are already similar forum threads on this site or you should start a new topic.
Having just retired from law enforcement after 30 years and being in court countless times I can tell you why the Police Officer wasn't there. Depending on what city court you may have to visit the number of "NO APPEARANCES" by defendants can number over 50% on any given day. I'll give you an example. Newark Municipal Court Part 3. Day court schedule may have 50 defendants on the docket. Of those 50 defendants lets just say there are 40 officers involved in those cases (multiple defendants / one officer). Now let's just say 20 defendants do not appear. That leaves 20 Police Officers sitting on the bench waiting for their cases to be called. Now those 20 officers may be on straight time or some or all may be on overtime.
something just occurred to me with this comment...why do we pay cops overtime..or at least overtime for something like this? isn't that just part of the job? Teachers don't get overtime when meeting with a parent or on back to school night. When a cop issues the ticket, it says right there when the court date is. If someone wants to plead not guilty, how hard is it to tell the cop to be there on that day. If the cop can't be there then he can reschedule it. Also, to get rid of the people who just want to not get points, those people could have anytime in a 2 week span during certain office hours to come see the prosecutor and work out a deal. At that point, it's just paperwork that needs to be signed off on so why even bother going before the judge. The judge will see the real people who really want to plead not guilty and only then will they need the cop. how many of those really happen anyway.
Because they work 24/7 and don't have 9 to 5, Monday to Friday schedules. You can't change their schedule for court time. You can schedule the case to fit their schedule. Changing schedules still requires overtime. OT is based on the work cycles, not the days. How do you pull three or so people off of a six man squad? You do it by bring people in on overtime to cover the spots. How do you pull someone off a night tour to come in days? Now he needs two days off to get back in the rotation. It doesn't work.
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come see the prosecutor and work out a deal
What does that save? First off, most Prosecutor's are part time. They are there only for court. They can work out whatever they want. It is meaningless because the case must be heard on the record and the Judge must agree to it. So you still come to court.
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At that point, it's just paperwork that needs to be signed
Brush up on the Court Rules first. You aren't close to a legal procedure here. Doing it that way causes indictments.
I only hope one day they allow us to pay even more to not have to go in to court at all. Sitting in NJ traffic court for hours on end is only slightly less torturous than water boarding.
Maybe the best way to resolve regular traffic tickets would be to have an online video game system. You might have to pay to keep spinning the wheel until you get the results you want. It's kind of like that right now, except people have to take time off, drive to court, sit around, etc.
You would have the option to do that or have a trial but 95% of tickets would get resolved by "Let's Make a Deal" electronically online.
But then you still get the points, which is not what I was talking about. I want to pay the fee to get out of the points, and then another fee to not have to go.
I want to pay the fee to get out of the points, and then another fee to not have to go.
Or don't violate the statutes and save your money. You sound like you want a separate set of rules for those that can pay their way out of violations? Maybe it can be extended up to Disorderly Persons offenses and even Indictable offenses. Maybe drive drunk and kill someone but, hey, I'll just pay a fee. My time is just too valuable to show up.
Actually I have seen large billboards in other states for lawyers that handle motor vehicle tickets where you don't have to come in at all and the lawyer does the "going in" on your behalf. Las Vegas comes to mind.
In minor cases that is possible. why would someone pay several hundred to hire an attorney to go in and plead you guilty? NJ has expanded the online system to handle many more areas. but in some cases the defendant must appear before the Magistrate. they must be advised of their rights and the possible results of a guilty plea.
Could you imagine the back room deals if the cases were not handled in open court and on the record? I'm sure that no personal connections would result in a favorable outcome in those backrooms. In fact I believe a former Judge in Jersey city is now doing time for such deals. Sure, deals are done in the back room under the guise of a plea bargain and most are legit. Some are not and border on criminal actions. those deals are much tougher to get by the public when there is a record that can be reproduced on demand.
Unless one gets traffic violations resulting in serious charges on a routine basis, why bother to change it?
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