Lawmakers might do well to
click here and practice a bit before taking a wrecking ball to judicial practices that have evolved over the decades. The unintended consequences were so very, very easy to foresee.
As the risk of coming across as sanctimonious as Lisa Simpson, permit me to observe that, among the many drawbacks I anticipated to flow from the enactment of Abuser Fees, were (1) an increase in the number of people fighting their tickets, (2) a surge in court cases creating backlogs in traffic court, and (3) an inability of many people to pay their fees, with the result that revenue forecasts would fall short of the projected $65 million a year.
Now, it appears, the first two unintended consequences are about to hit us. Writes Amy Gardner in the Washington Post:
This week, next week and week after week after that, thousands of traffic cases that carry steep new civil penalties will slam the state’s judicial system. … Judges and court clerks predict an unprecedented wave of trials, appeals, strategies and anger as they begin to hear cases subject to the new law.
“They’re picking up,” said Nancy L. Lake, clerk of the Fairfax County General District Court, who is expecting the current few cases to grow to as many as hundreds a day in coming weeks. …
Donald P. McDonough, chief judge of Fairfax County’s General District Court, predicted a “profound effect” on the county’s traffic dockets. The clerk’s office is required to collect the first of three annual installments from convicted offenders (the others are collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles). McDonough predicted longer waits to pay fines — not to mention longer waits to be heard in court. With the volume of cases going to trial likely to grow, cases are going to be delayed for days or longer, he said.
To repeat the questions I’ve raised before: How much will it cost local courts to process these fees? How much lost time on the job will it cost in local police and state police while waiting in court to testify? How much will it cost local clerks to collect the fees? How much will it cost to jail those convicted on driving on suspended licenses incurred because they were unable to pay the fees? Will Abuser Fees accomplish anything more than robbing Peter (local governments) to pay Paul (state road construction projects)?
For those who can’t get enough of the Abuser Fee controversy (or who’d like to see an amusing application of PhotoShop), drop by this website, “
His Excellency’s New Clothes: The Naked Truth about Tim Kaine, the GOP, and Imbecilic Abuser Fees.” (
Hat tip: Publius II)
