Who the HELL knew it was against the law to jaywalk here - millions of people (including cops) do it every day!
I guess they were having a low crime week and decided to make this the crime of the week!
It was a sting operation, I wasn’t the only one to get a ticket that day, there were hundreds, and I’m not even so pissed off about the fact that I got the ticket (as assinine as that is in NY), BUT I have to waste my time going to court for it!
They won’t let you just mail in your payment, the cop said you HAVE to appear in court and 9 times out of 10 the judge just drops the charge, or you have to pay a $10 fine.
In the cops words, “It’s more of an inconvenience than anything.”
Then why the HELL clog up the court system for the thousands of offenders you caught in your stipid sting operation???
I would rather pay a $50 fine if I didn’t have to appear in person and could just mail it in!
AAARRRGGGHHHHH!
And if they think this is a deterrent for people who plan on jaywalking in the future, it’s not - I still do it, but now I just make sure there are no COPS watching before I do! And I’m not an idiot! I don’t jaywalk when a car is careening towards me, fer chrissakes.
I don’t know how things are in NY about something like this, but here in Texas, they’re really getting snooty about throwing warrents for arrest around. I got a speeding ticket yesturday and the cop told me if I don’t take care of it by July 2, they’ll issue a warrent for my arrest. They had a huge operation a while back where they nabbed anyone with an unpaid ticket. I don’t know if a $50 jaywalking ticket is something they’d go after, but in the grand scheme of things, it sound completely fucking ridiculous.
What’s even more ridiculous is a couple years back, they started issuing jaywalking tickets to homeless people in an attempt to get them off the street. So, yeah, instead of the city putting its money into programs for better shelters or offices to help the homeless get cleaned up and off the streets, they fine them fifty bucks. How the fuck is a homeless person supposed to pay a fine? And what’s to keep them from just moving on to another city? It doesn’t solve the problem, just moves them out.
The whole concept of jaywalking is fairly stupid. Maybe I just feel that way because I’ve lived in a college town for the past five years and everyone fucking jaywalks, even if there’s a car careening towards them.
But yeah, you should go to the courthouse and just get it thrown out. Better than getting arrested over an afternoon of happy fun reading time away from work (make sure you take a book, you’ll be waiting a while). Good luck.
Jesus, Lola—I thought now that Giuliani was out of office, they’d dropped that whole “no jaywalking” nonsense. I mean, jaywalking is a sacred right of New Yorkers—we’d never get across the goddam street if we didn’t jaywalk!
And it was E-V-I-L! I got there around 8:30am, which turned out to be a good thing, cuz by the time I left, (almost 11 o’ freaking clock), there were like 150 people lined up outside the courthouse!!! :o
World Eater is right - if I didn’t have ID, they could haul me in until identity is established, and if I didn’t show up, a warrant officer would’ve shown up at my apartment and taken me in in handcuffs! Believe me, I did my research.
Most of the people were there for opened alcoholic beverages in public (???) One guy was there for pissing in public <----GOOD! Ugh.
It was boring and stupid and a waste of time! AND I had to pay a $20 fine!!! When I asked the court officer how come the cop said it would be $10, he stated that it’s up to the judge’s discretion what the fine is - he said sometimes people pay $30 - $50! WTF? I thought a set fine was established for an offense.
And Eve, it happened on Queens Blvd in LIC while I was on my way to visit a friend.
All I gotta say is I wish the White Plains PD would crack down on the damn jaywalkers. I swear, NYC walkers have NOTHING on these assholes. A busy 4 lane, 2 way street, and these people are wandering around like it’s a fucking nature trail. God forbid they actually haul their asses to a crosswalk, and wait for the light. They have to jog half way across the street, and stand on the double yellow while cars are passing by 2 feet away on either side. I can’t drive for 2 blocks without dodging some joker with a death wish.
To be devil’s advocate, and just because I feel like being controversial, don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
I do realize it is a widely practiced tradition in NY and most other cities in the country, but it is the law. Would you use the most incriminating defense ever and say, “Everyone else was doing it,” thereby admitting guilt?
This is used so much with speeders too. Just because everyone does it, doesn’t mean it’s right or lawful. Hell, it’s probably there to protect you on some degree.
I suppose this rant isn’t so much about being issued a ticket for jaywalking, but about having to go to COURT for it. Not only is this a huge inconvenience, but it clogs up the damned system with offenders which’re doing things that are, for the most part, harmless (unless you’re one of those dummies who crosses WHEN A CAR IS COMING. In the game of car vs. person, the car wins). They could be taking care of less ambiguous crimes.
On the other hand, I’ll bet you’ll never jaywalk again.
[sub]At least not without looking for a cop first.[/sub]
I don’t think she’s complaining that she got the ticket, she’s upset because she had to go to court over the damn thing. I’m sure she would have been more than happy to mail it and forget about it…
Pepperlandgirl is right, why waste my time in court over such a minor offense? I am not denying my guilt - just give me a damn address to mail in my fine - court, for this offense, should be only for people who are pleading not guilty.
And regarding this:
I jaywalked on my way to the courthouse. I just made sure there were no cops watching.
NY is a walking town, we don’t drive everywhere and cross the street a couple of times a day. We cross streets all day long! If we were to stop for every red light, we’d spend half our day waiting for the light to change. Not to mention the fact that you’d look like an idiot being the ONLY person waiting for a light to change while thousands of others are crossing against a Don’t Walk sign.
When I dropped into this thread I had jaywalking confused with whatever the name of the offence is when guys drive slowly around red light zones to pick up hookers.