Posted on 06/27/2006 11:50:03 AM PDT by beezdotcom
BERKLEY, Mich. -- The parking fine was $10. But the comment Robert Militzer added to the check could land him in jail for 30 days.
The computer programmer from Allen Park got the ticket May 29. When Militzer wrote the check to Berkley District Court, he scribbled on the memo line, "BULL (expletive) MONEY GRAB."
That got Militzer an in-person court appearance -- on a contempt of court charge. He's scheduled to go before a judge Wednesday, accompanied by an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who will argue Militzer's remark is protected by the First Amendment.
(Excerpt) Read more at kirotv.com ...
I had to have some work done on my little Ford wagon, and wrote a check to the mechanic. My wife was reconciling the bank statement a couple of weeks later, and in an icy tone, inquired about that particular check.
I never wrote "Escort Service" on the memo line again.
So if I do a neighborhood newsletter once that I place on all my neighbors doors, that is not press? I would think that would fall under the freedom of press clause, but I would not be considered part of the media.
Gimme a break!
1) I am apparently not THAT old
2) I hardly consider BS that profane or obscene
3) This language was not used in "public" it was written at the bottom of a check.
I have seen and heard profane and obscene language used in public - on the streets of our nations capital to be exact. I find signs and chants saying, "F--K Bush" and "Bush $uck$" far more offensive than BS written at the bottom of a check that 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the country would never see.
Let me start out by saying this was some time ago, when I was young and stupid (as opposed to being old and stupid, as I am today).
It was your standard violation, expired meter in downtown Pontiac, Michigan. I was a couple of minutes late, and had the pleasure of watching Officer Friendly write the ticket. I was right in front of Municipal Hall, so I went inside to pay the ticket, but they couldn't take my money because the ticket had not yet been processed by the officer.
Needless to say, the ticket went into my glovebox, where I promptly forgot about it. Two weeks later, I get a blistergram from the Pontiac Municipal Court threatening all sorts of dire consequences, up to and including incarceration, if I did not promptly pay them their fine (which was about $10 with a $20 penalty at that point).
Well (I mentioned I was young and stupid, right?), I was offended by the tenor of their letter, so I promptly wrote them a check, but in the memo line wrote (for) A$$holes in Pontiac ______, only without the benefit of the "$" signs.
That probably would not have been too much of a problem, it might have gone unnoticed, but in my haste I forgot to sign the check...
Well, needless to say, I soon had my license suspended, recieved a much larger fine from the Municipal Court, and all sorts of dire threats were made against me and my vehicle. Around about that time, I was moving out of state, anyway, so I wrote an apologetic letter, sent them a new, uneditorialized check for $30, and moved 2000 miles away.
And, no, I have never been back to Pontiac, Michigan...
I think we've passed that marker. When the government passes so many laws to cover every conceivable situation and in fact many that conflict with each other, we are caught up in a bureaucratic maze that only lawyers can negotiate, we then become sheeple.
1) True, you aren't that old
2) BS was considered obscene language at that time
3) Yes, that's public enough
And in the new, conquered USA many things Christ centered will get you the same unless it's used as a form of cursing.
Uh-oh... If they ever read the memo line on my utility bills, I'm in big trouble.
Any chance Time Warner-AOL won't notice, for instance, last month's payment for Emperor Turner's involuntary retirement party? Or the previous one for the Warner Endowment for Copkilluh Thugz? Or the Liberal Jihad?
I have wanted to do the same thing! Berkley and especialy Royal Oak use parking ticket revenue to run the damn cities.
After 9/11 and the Tsunami, the Red Cross was all over the radio telling people not to write specific disasters in the Memo field of the check. If you were to write Tsunami Relief 2004 or something of that sort, the ARC is forced to use the money for that cause. If everyone did it, they wouldn't have any money to keep operations going.
As explained to me by my friend, a business and finance major, when you fill out the memo field of a check, that is in essence a mini contract that you are entering into with the person who cashes it. By him cashing it, it's as if he agrees that is what the money will be used for. (Come to think of it, I should ask my lawyer brother instead of my business friend).
A newsletter would qualify for Freedom of the Press as you are distributing news, opinions or other information to a group of people. In that one specific case, you would be considered part of the media.
Being written versus spoken does not matter. For example, the Fox News channel enjoys Freedom of the Press protections for their TV newscasts even if they never write a single word.
The rise of blogs and internet sites like Free Republic and Drudge have brought new debate to what constitutes being a member of the "press".
A personal letter, however, would be Freedom of Speech.
I did the same thing once, in a cryptic sort of way...........
How many times have you been to jail for anything "Christ centered" that wasn't cursing?
If that remark constitutes contempt, this court is indeed contemptible. And what about the wussy staffer who first noticed it and referred it up the ladder for more attention. What a waste of protoplasm.
Nolo Contendre, no doubt.
I recently received a ticket that I shouldn't have. In order to plead "not guilty", I first had to send in a check for the amount of the fine and court costs as "bail". (For a parking infraction!). It was $147.50, though the potential fine was only $50. The rest were "costs".
The court was understanding and dismissed the ticket in under 30 seconds, but they had my money for more than a month before the hearing was scheduled.
Kind of irritated me that the law dictates bail for a parking infraction and adds on so many costs if you want to defend yourself.
Contempt of court is not a "crime" exactly. But I don't see how it is even contempt of court. The two basic types of contempt of court are 1) telling off the Judge in open court, and 2) disobeying a court order. This is neither.
Michigan, overall, has okay judges, provided you avoid the socialist peckerheads in the liberal cities. Looks like this guy got caught in a liberal t*twringer court.
Michigan recently rescinded all dueling laws. I'd go ahead and smack this marxist blackrobe with a glove and tell him to meet me behind the courthouse at dawn. And don't forget your sword. Ten bucks is ten bucks.
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