- Dec 10, 2007 9:19pm
- Today made me realize what type of police state this country has become. This is how it started out, about a month ago, my husband rolled through a stop sign and was pulled over by the local village police. I use village because there is no more then 1500 people in this location. My husband had what he thought to be an expired license but when the village officer called in his number the license had been cancelled. Well, off to the jail house we go. After a few phone calls he is released and is required to return for a court hearing the following month.
The next morning he calls the local DMV to find out why his license was cancelled. He was told that all he had to do was come to the local DMV and pay $35.00 to have it renewed and he did not have any violations on his driving record. So that is what we did. Since he renewed his license we figured he would have to pay the "rolling through a stop sign" fine and that would be it. Not so...
Today 12-10-07, we go to court, the ol'geezer with the black batman cape on spent less then two minutes hearing his story about the problem with his license and how he resolved it. Remember he now has a free and clear "freedom card". Anyways, the ol'goat gave my husband a $630.00 fine and 12 months of probation for the petty driving offense of failure to stop at a stop sign and driving without or improper license, WTF?
But there's more...
Sitting in front of the so called probation offer who rambled through the paper work like Speedy Gonzales and telling my husband his terms of probation fast enough to make your head spin stated:
1. Pay a fine and court costs in the amount of $630.00
2. Do not violate the criminal laws of any governmental unit.
3. Do not change present residence of leave the jurisdiction of the Court without permission.
4. Pay all fines, program, and restitution fees within the time specified by the Probation Officer. (That would be one year)
5. Must maintain suitable employment. (That will be a hard one, for Christ Sake he's been fighting disability for three plus years!)
6. Report to the Probation Officer weekly in person and pay $30.00 per month supervision fee. (What the Hell is this fee for, aren't these idiots employees of the State?)
7. Avoid alcoholic intoxication, narcotics, and other dangerous drugs unless prescribed lawfully. Do not visit places where prohibited substances are unlawfully sold, dispensed or used. (Treat him like a drug addict while your at it)
8. Pay $9.00 per month for the State Crime Victims Emergency Fund. (The only victim is him)
And the best part is the paragraph at the bottom of the "Misdemeanor Probation Services Report Information Sheet" which states in all caps and bold print: drum roll please.....
IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLY WITH ANY OF THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO YOU A WARRANT WILL BE ISSUED FOR YOUR ARREST AND YOUR NAME PLACED ON THE NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER REGISTRY (NCIC) AS A FUGITIVE FROM THE COURT. IT WILL REMAIN THERE UNTIL YOUR CASE IS RESOLVED OR YOU ARE ARRESTED.
I love this fucking country!!
But that's not the best part. My husband was expectedly upset over this whole ordeal. He abruptly gets up out of his chair, hands me the paperwork and quickly walks out of the room. Being as mad as he was, he hit the top of the trunk of our legally register and insured vehicle and started to get in the passenger seat. I was getting ready to start the car when Probation Chief **()__&*&^ came rushing out of the building hollering at my husband to come back in the court room. He confronted my husband about his anger and told him that if he didn't come back in the court room he was going to have him arrested!!! It was very difficult for my husband to calm down, but he did. He apologized to the PO for his anger but this wasn't good enough for the!@##@@. This state employee continued to harass my husband by telling him it was his anger that got him here in the first place and a couple of days in jail would do him good. I thought for sure the PO was going to eat dirt on that comment. But my husband maintained his composure. That ^%$# had no idea what our situation was and didn't give a damn about it either, he was only there to antagonize my husband by provoking him to throw a punch and have him thrown in jail. Well not this time. As humiliating as it was I am very proud of the way he handled this SOB.
I still can't believe our court system treats their citizens in this way. No wonder so many people are in jail/prison. I never thought law enforcement would behave this way in such a small town but I am very wrong. The only thing left to do is pray to a high power that this madness ends very soon.
A few stats on Georgia's prison system.
1. Georgia has 533,500 adults under correctional supervision (prisons, jails, probation, and parole). The supervision rate (number of offenders per 100,000 people) is about 15% higher than the national rate.
2.
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