[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 She failed to show up at court (she says the ticket bore the wrong date), so her license was revoked.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.

[skinem]

Legal?

Probably.

Right? No!

[Tourian]

The jails are full of people like this. That's why there's overcrowding and budget concerns. There's a movement to let people like this go so we can get back to safely incarcerating the actual criminals like the theives, rapists and murders.

Folks like her, bad checkwriters, and people caught with small amounts of drugs with intent to use not sell should probably be ROR'd.

[VeeBee66]

The Alabama Administrative Office of Courts COULD put a stop to this and they should. The JUDGES could and should put a stop to this but they are trying to figure out how to pay for their court personnel. The WHOLE Court Referral program for alcohol and drug arrests started out as a way to help those individuals but in the last 10-15 years it has become nothing but a way to make money. I used to work for one of the programs, I used to teach those classes but it became painfully obvious to me that it stopped being about the person needing help and became nothing but a money maker.

In this case, while the jail time was, IMO unnecessary, sometimes a person has to also help themselves. Any time for ANY OFFENSE one should have or ask for legal representation.

[Granny Sue]

I'm having a little bit of a problem feeling sorry for Ms. Ray. She chose to ignore the citation, she then knew that she had no license and continued to driving full well knowing that it was illegal. She was stopped again...I'm sure she was being an upstanding citizen when she was pulled over.

And now it's all the greedy government's fault that she has all these fines?

I feel that if she would have just shown up at the 1st hearing, pled her case....the rest would not have happened.

But then again the days of personal responsibilty seem to be waning and it's easier to blame "the man".

[Southlander]

Krispy Kremes are only located in bigger cities such as Huntsville, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and, uh, Florence. You don't find KKs in rural locations. Why would they advertise "2 can dine for $5.99?" You don't "dine" at KK.

[Keeper]

I agree there is something off about that story. You usually don't go to court for speeding, you just pay the fine don't you? So the date being wrong wouldn't matter. She was wrong for not taking care of it.

Sounds like the usual bashing of AL to me.

[CoreLysium]

Sorry, that lady is looking for trouble and is finding it. She skipped her court date, what, three times? This sounds more like what an alcoholic does with their court dates.

Anecdote:
When I had my court date for going 78 in a 60 mph zone, and not having proof of insurance on me, there were several "waste of time" cases because people wouldn't conform to the system. About 1/3 were people who hadn't paid their fines and they were given extra time, or not. However, this one 20-something girl was charged with every minor infraction you could think of related to operating a vehicle. The guy next to me and I were amazed that there were so many things tagged on to the initial speeding ticket. Then the girl opened her mouth, and started yelling at the judge. Hoo, buddy. Wrong move. She was bumped up to a higher court to be held that afternoon.

Some people look for trouble, then usually find it. I'd hold back on defending someone who is having trouble with the law, when they are clearly breaking it repeatedly. She is an excellent example for us, don't skip your court dates...three times.

[steel7]

I dont see why jailing her is the answer but the united states has more people in jail then anywhere in the world. Thats sad.

[LIGuy1202]

There are two issues here:
1) Acting responsibly and in respect of the law
2) Taking advantage of those who don't

Of the first, Gina Ray (and others like her) aren't being responsible or respectful of the law. Every law has a mechanism (procedure) to follow to help citizens not get into deeper trouble. Doing things within the law is the first to show responsibility. Usually showing-up is the first and foremost way to show respect. Do these two things and one has eliminated just cause for most issues.

Of the second, I agree a for-profit system to mete out justice inevitably will take advantage of the economically disadvantaged. You won't see many people with good incomes having this problem because they're more likely to be able to hire attorneys...but hiring an attorney shouldn't be the burden of a citizen to get out of unjust for-profit schemes of "justice".