Our justice system in this country is FUCKED. I use caps to emphasize the level of fuckedupness in which the United States legal system exists.
I was involved in a low speed 5 car pile up about a year ago. The 90 year old woman that caused the accident mistook the air in front of her car for a deer, and locked up her brakes to avoid hitting it. The 90 year old woman drove off after realizing that the air deer had vanished into mid air. She did not realize that the 5 cars following her for the better part of 4 miles had slammed into one another as a result of her brake check.
As everyone outside examined their cars for damage, I realized that my 1988 Pontiac 6000 had left a 3 inch black smudge on the rear bumper of the car in front of me. The other cars drove away, but Mrs. OMFG MY NEW CAR quickly called the cops to the scene. As required by law I was given a “Following Too Closely” ticket and we went our separate ways.
In the courtroom, the case before mine involved an 18 year old man that had been charged with one count of “Possession of Marijuana”. He pled guilty. The judge, a miserable ugly bastard, sentenced him to 8 hours of community service and a $50 dollar fine. With consequences like that, I am sure he will never do it again. He even asked the judge if he could have his smoking “paraphernalia” back. At this point I was in good spirits, thinking that if a kid arrested for smoking the reefer got off easy, mine might get dropped altogether.
I was really fucking wrong. I explained how the accident occurred to the judge, explained that 4 other cars were involved, and that the black smudge on the woman’s car cost my insurance company $70 to fix. The judge then shocked me with the words that came out of his yellowed, fat lips. “Mr. XXXXXXX, the maximum fee for this offence is $300, but I am only going to charge you $225. Additionally, the court fee is $75. You can pay the woman to your right”.
Arguing with a judge is a bad idea. Arguing with a miserable Irish judge is even worse. I asked how a man guilty of an illegal drug received the fine he did, and my unavoidable accident cost me 3 points on my license, a 15% rise in my car insurance, and $300 court fine. I even declared the law faulty. The stupid Mic bastard judge didn’t really see things my way. He was quickly angered, and increased my fee to the maximum. A nice police officer then escorted me out of the courtroom.
Call me a weirdo, but in what world is this kind of shit right? It doesn’t matter what drug it was. He intentionally broke the law. My accidental bumper kiss carried a pretty serious monetary impact for me, yet Mr. Pothead’s replacement bag and a new piece was less than half of what I spent in court fees.
So what’s the moral of the story? Don’t drive. Smoke weed instead. It isn’t as expensive if you get caught.
It seems to me that if possesing marijuana is a $50 fine and 8 hours of community service, then the fine for folloing to closely should be proportionate to the danger posed to society by the act. Following too closely can injure or KILL someone. An 18 year old carrying around some harmless plant can not. Since the marijuana possesser is little or no harm to society and the close follower can kill people, with the $50 and 8 hours as the punishment for marijuana, the punishment for following to closely should be at least $20,000 with a year of community service.
Dear TaxExemPt,
On behalf of everyone reading your comment: Go Fuck Yourself.
Sincerely,
K8sFreeFall
Dear Kate’s in Free Fall
What wonderful reasoning and logic you hold. Hopefully by the time you are 18 you will hit the ground.
TaxExemPt
Dear TaxExemPt,
Have you not seen the "Just say no" advertising campaign?!? While under the influence of "some harmless plant" (and thus in possession of said harmless plant), one might fall asleep while babysitting and a small child will inevitably drown. In Ruko’s "following too closely" case, however, no small children died. Thus, I conclude: Go Fuck Yourself. How is that for logic? I anxiously anticipate your next critique of my reasoning skills.
Sincerely,
K8sFreeFall
If pot involves small children dying – where the fuck do I sign up?
Taxexempt-
I think you are missing the point. The following too closely ticket is given whenever there is a rear end collision, regardless of the reason for the accident. I was in fact thrown into the car in front of me due to the collision in my rear. While somebody could have been hurt, they were not, and I still received a fine significantly higher than the minimum. The 18 year old man was caught with possession in his vehicle, and it was unclear whether he was high at the time or not (the officer used the terms "showing no signs of ability impaired" and "inconclusive evidence to suggest intoxication"). Being that you seem familiar with marijuana taxexempt, I need not explain how THC can often show no signs of intoxication and hence be very difficult to prove by a simple roadside sobriety test.
As k8sfreefall said, THC found in marijuana does in fact slow motor skills, inhibits perception, and slows reaction time, all very similar to alcohol in moderate doses. If this young man was indeed operating a vehicle, the dangers posed by him far outweighed my fender bender. That is beside the point, but I feel it necessary to address it seeing as how you have brought it up.
Laws in this country are not solely created based on "the danger posed to society". Most laws are based around reasons other than criminal. You can’t walk around naked in public. You can’t steal towels from a hotel. You cannot break monetary contracts. You are not allowed to blast your music at 100 decibels at 3 AM within city limits. It is illegal to possess marijuana or any other illegal drug. These are all laws that exist, and there is a good reason for each one of them. And guess what? None of them revolve around the "the danger posed to society by the act" as you so eloquently wrote.
The bottom line here, Mr. taxexempt, is that this guy intentionally broke a state law. I also broke a law. I broke it unintentionally and arguably uncontrollably. The judge knew this, and threw "intent" out of the legal window. When "intent" is removed from our legal system, we are in serious fucking trouble.
I hope you get my point.
-ruko
Dear Ruko,
This is in fact exactly what I meant to write in place of "Go fuck yourself." However, I thought perhaps it might be lost on someone not knowing the difference between "to" and "too" and thus deemed it not worth my efforts. You, however, have defended your post eloquently and appropriately. TaxExemPt, please pay the woman to your right $375.
Sincerely,
K8sFreeFall
I have a few words after reading these ridiculous posts. K8, you
just piss me off. Drop the eloquent bullshit and just say it.
Nothing worse than an uneducated douche bag trying to sound like a
genius. RUKO, i know how you feel. Your problem is that you
expected the judicial system to be fair. HAHA FUCKER… Common
sense, logic and equity are completely absent in our judicial
system. Don’t argue with old people, they are more stubborn than
the Romanian himself. P.S. If i get one stupid reply to this
message, i am seriously going to snap. That goes for you TOO K8.
(If you didn’t realize, i said TOO instead of TO… ASS)
Turk
Feel free to snap at any time because in your case the stupidity lies within.
P.S. I think Turk likes K8. He’s acting just like an eight year old who pulls the hair and torments the girl he likes. But that’s OK – I’m sure the two of them will have lovely children.
Speaking of ‘undeducated douche bags’… “Snap: to lose your temper
and act in an aggressive manner.” (urbandictionary.com, definition
#10) This type of behavior is typical among those lacking
sufficient verbal skills with which to express themselves… not
shockingly, there seems to be some correlation between verbal
skills and level of education. Call me crazy.
Douche – That truly was a stupid ass response. I can not believe
you wasted your time to type that crap. If I was you, I would jump
into oncoming traffic. GENIUS! K8 – Given that i just found out
that you are a friend of a friend, I will refrain from vulgar and
unnecessary responses. I will say this though. I can’t believe you
wasted several minutes of your life to look up and quote the
definition of “snap.” That specific act requires no intelligence,
creativity or education to complete. Good frickin job quoting the
dictionary. You are a WEINER! I only can think of one person lamer
than you, and that person is RUKO. RUKO – 41% of the panel agreed
that momentarily is defined as “in a moment.” 100% agreed that you
are a douche.
Mic? F You you racist prick. Is it okay to call an African American the “N” word? Is it okay to call a Latin person a Spick? A Jew a Kyke? I’m sure a even a racist bigot like you has got the point by now. You can make your point without insulting specific racial groups. Especially groups that were instrumental in building this country. Once again F YOU!