[wawa1992]

Legal, but very wrong. VERY wrong. This needs to be exposed more so that those in charge get flack.

[bluebeard]

Originally Posted by Southlander

It's now 2012 - 40+ years later.
And you're still judging Alabama on your experiences in the late '60s?

Didn't you know? North Carolina was a hotbed of tolerance back in the 60's. There weren't any major conflicts over segregation back then in NC or anything.

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by Southlander

It's now 2012 - 40+ years later.
And you're still judging Alabama on your experiences in the late '60s?

Yeah, but imagine how hot he must think his old girlfriends still look...

[AJBarney]

Originally Posted by Dreison Rhodes

And to think, some people actually ask me why I have such a low opinion of Alabama. My experiences back in the late sixties were not good either and I am a white guy.

And to think, nobody actually cares about your low opinion of Alabama.

[zenjenn]

I suspect there is more to the story than what we're reading here. That "more" might involve either justified actions by the legal system or corruption. I don't know. I just suspect there is more to the story that would shed light on what's going on here. I have a hard time believing this happened out of neutral due process. Either the system is abusing power because they have some vendetta against this woman, or the criminality of the woman's actions exceed what is being portrayed in the article.

[harry chickpea]

Heh heh. "Lucy, you got some 'splainin to do..." Awww, Ricky...

In an order filed Wednesday, Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Hub Harrington said the Harpersville Municipal Court was running a “judicially sanctioned extortion racket.”
Harrington wrote that the court’s actions repeatedly violated the constitutional rights of defendants that appeared before it.


Judge halts private probation practice in Alabama city, equates it to ‘debtors prison’ - The Washington Post

[floridabum]

i have a similar story, but a much happier ending. i got cought speeding in alabama (on 231) and forgot about the ticket till the notice came in the mail that my license was suspended. It ended up costing some 200$ for the ticket (after court costs, ect), and cost me like 60 to get my license un-suspended.

Every time i have gotten a ticket (i have a lead foot) the judge has been helpful, and most of them understand that we live in alabama, not a place like california. Were poor in the rural south. they understand that. ive paid off more tickets in installment payments than i have my own credit cards. Next time you get a ticket, talk to the judge. they will usually work out some sort of payment plan. They dont want to throw the good people in jail, and frankly they dont even want you to have to appear in front of them.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/us...=MYWAY&ei=5065

"CHILDERSBURG, Ala. — Three years ago, Gina Ray, who is now 31 and unemployed, was fined $179 for speeding. She failed to show up at court (she says the ticket bore the wrong date), so her license was revoked.

When she was next pulled over, she was, of course, driving without a license. By then her fees added up to more than $1,500. Unable to pay, she was handed over to a private probation company and jailed — charged an additional fee for each day behind bars.

For that driving offense, Ms. Ray has been locked up three times for a total of 40 days and owes $3,170, much of it to the probation company. Her story, in hardscrabble, rural Alabama, where Krispy Kreme promises that “two can dine for $5.99,” is not about innocence. "

That sounds more like something out of the poor prisons of England in the early industrial age.

Gina Ray's argument is not plausible. If the ticket bore the "wrong date" she would have paid the ticket on the wrong date and if, indeed, this was true, I'm sure the clerk of the court would have brought it to someone's attention and things would have worked out. No, instead she chose to IGNORE the ticket (regardless of whether the date was right or wrong), and she paid the price for it down the road.

If you want to live as a member of society, then you have to play by the rules. If you don't they throw yo' butt in jail and it doesn't matter a bit if you are black or white trash.

20yrsinBranson

[AJBarney]

Moral of the story:


Pay your debts.