To the editor,
There should be a sign above the door leading into courtroom #2 in
the courthouse on Spring Garden that reads “Abandon hope, all ye who
enter here.” In this courtroom, cases on minor vehicle and lowly
parking-ticket violations are heard. Have you contested a parking
ticket recently? Here’s how it works. You go to court just to get a
court date set. Then, months later, you have your case heard for a
fucking parking ticket! Like me, you may think you have an iron-clad
case in your favour. Why else would you be there? Like me, you may have
a witness. I even had a parking meter warden, the one who gave me the
ticket, tell the court that meters in this city are often inaccurate.
Unfortunately, the judge only seems to know the words “guilty as
charged.” She seems to take her cue from the prosecutor of parking
tickets. It all comes down to a tax grab for the city. At the end
you’re left with paying the ticket plus court costs plus your valuable
time. There is no justice and it’s a no-win situation, so contest your
tickets if you want, but in the kangaroo court system you really are
guilty until proven guilty.
—Richard Hand, Sambro Head
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2009.