Gus, we give judges and other law enforcement persons discretion so that they have flexibility when serving the cause of justice. They do not have discretion so that they can hurt people who piss them off and protect their friends and relatives.
Count me on the side with the judge. She thought nothing of parking where ever she darn well pleased and he was lucky enough to have the power to do something about it. Abuse of power? puullsseee.
You apparently don’t understand the concept very well.
And what does “pulllsseee” mean?
I have blocked in cars on occasion and I have had them towed. Those are the risks you take when you leave your car sitting out somewhere in public.
Can we please agree that a twenty-six year old woman is a woman, not a girl?
Excellent rebuttal to an argument that no-one is making.
In fact, of those who are criticizing the judge’s actions, many people are specifically saying that he should have had her towed, and that blocking her in initially was not a bad thing. It was the way he dragged the situation out for (apparently) no other reason than to exercise his power and exact revenge.
You are wrong. The police can arrest you- or even “detain” you without charges- for a period, without due process. Now, that period is rather short, yes, but it’s longer than half a day.
Also parking violations aren’t “criminal prosecutions” and you don’t have the same protection of the Bill of Rights as if they were a crime. You don’t have the right to a jury trial, for instance (at least in CA, YMMV).
http://www.jp.co.pima.az.us/Pages/MeetJudges/castilo/matrix.pdf#search=““right%20to%20jury%20trial”%20parking%20ticket”
http://www.beavertonoregon.gov/departments/court/court_ticket.html
"You have been cited for a violation not a crime. Your rights are similar, but not identical, to those in a criminal case.
Your case will be tried by the Court not a jury. Since this is not a crime, you do not have right to jury trial. You may be represented by an attorney, but you will have to pay the expense. The City will not provide an attorney"
http://talk.ocregister.com/archive/index.php/t-13349.html
"Two days ago, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled unanimously that “if the legislature has defined an offense as a misdemeanor punishable by no more than six months incarceration, we presume that the offense is petty, and no jury right attaches.”
So, what he did was not a violation of the Bill of Rights.
Sure, the judge can do something like that, but if the court is interested in solving the problem before it starts, then they should indicate HOW the space is reserved, with a sign that says something like “Judges Only” or even “Parking For: Judge Whatchawhosit”. Never underestimate the manner of ways that things can be misunderstood, especially when you’re dealing with the wider general public.
I’m trying to figure out how much the fact that it was a judge bothers me or should bother me.
If it had been a CEO on company parking who kept someone stuck in the lobby all day (had the executive assistant and office admin shift the car around, etc.), would it have been equally as bad? more ok? less ok?
Not as bad because he is a private citizen.
And because you could theoretically call the cops, who would tell the assistant to let you out.
Nailed it.
In the eyes of the law, the Judge is not entileled to any more protection or power than the average citizen when it comes to due process, and the application of law.
Same sort of thing happened to me. On my Wife’s and my wedding day, we came back down the gondola (got married on a mountain) to find we had been blocked in. The next wedding had arrived, and they blocked in a bunch of people. ALL THEY NEEDED TO DO WAS PARK FIFTY FEET AWAY, and I would not have been blocked in. Plenty of parking.
So we waited. My Wife in her gown, and me in my tux. We waited for enough vehicles to leave for us to barely get out of the lot.
The idiot that blocked me in could not walk another 50 feet to easy parking (before walking about 500 yards to the gondola that he had to do anyway) so they just blocked me in. 50 feet. Blocked me and my new Wife in for about an hour.
Ooohhhhh , I was mad. My Wife and I needed to get back to the hotel, change and get to the after reception party party that the whole family was at. I did not want to be mad, and am very rarely mad.
But I hate it when anyone can be this inconsiderate.
So…. What did I do? Well if anyone is familiar with older model American cars, you know that the hood ornament is attached by a spring. This is so it can flex and not hurt a pedestrian if they fell on it. I took that hood ornament and I…… just spun it 90 degrees. No damage to it. It was designed to do that.
I wanted to carve a message in his hood. But I realized, this isn’t me. It’s been a very, very long day, and I just happened to run into the biggest asshole within 1000 miles. And he blocked me in (first time it had ever happened).
Better that, than a night in jail (never been, don’t want any first hand experience).
The judge in this case should be taken to task. He is allowed to be pissed off, but in no way should he be allowed to deprive someone of the access to their property without due process.
Well, there is the right way, the wrong way and the backwoods county/town way.
*:: Go ahead son, piss the judge/chief of police/county commishner/ off and then holler for the ACLU. Uh huh… *