Posted on 08/08/2007 11:09:25 AM PDT by JZelle
A U.S. Navy veteran with a clean driving record who faces a $1,050 civil remedial fee after he was cited for driving 20 mph over the speed limit in Arlington sued the state of Virginia yesterday over its "abuser fee" program.
Kyle M. Courtnall, a lawyer representing Charles "Chaz" Mason, filed a motion in Arlington General District Court to declare the civil remedial fees, which range from $750 to $3,000, unconstitutional because they don't apply to out-of-state drivers. The fees went into effect July 1.
Mr. Mason's motion mirrors successful challenges heard last week in courts in Henrico County and Richmond. The judges ruled in two cases that the fees violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law because the state has no rational basis for making "the distinction between resident and nonresident 'dangerous drivers.' "
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
You mean Governor Tim Kaine. O’Malley is governor of Maryland.
We'd all be better off if this law was brought down because it is cruel and unusual punishment!
I guess the law had it’s intended effect - I just paid a lawyer $850 to plead reckless by speed down to speeding.
Of course, the sponsor of the law is a traffic attourney.
No, I mean O’Malley. I expect him to try something like this in Md. He’s already giddy about possibly “overhauling” the income tax rates.
This will be a start to deep-sixing this insane law. With three courts declaring it unconstitutional, pretty soon all jurisdictions will see it as a waste of time to try to enforce it.
TC
They are declaring it unconstitutional, but only because it doesn't equally hit out-of-state drivers as much as it does in-state drivers. All that means is that Virginia simply has to modify the law so that it hits out-of-state drivers with the same fees (probably in the form of increased fines).
If the law was declared unconstitional because it is cruel and unusual punishment, then there is no way the law could come back from the dead.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Not in your case, buddy -- this law didn't apply to your case because your lead foot got caught prior to July 1.
While I have a huge problem with the in-state vs. out of-state driver situation, there is another that no one is addressing. The "civil fees" are collected while renewing the tags on your car. Not all holders of a VA DL own a car. I know I don't, and I have a bunch of friends that don't either. "Our" cars are registered in our husbands' name, or in the case of one friend in her grandparents' name.
What about company cars?
The entire thing needs to be scrapped. If they need money for fixing roads - then quit spending money on stupid stuff.
Interesting question - what happens to my snow plows?
Exactly. This has NEVER been about anything but revenue.
Of course.
Exactly!
I am absolutely positive that they could find the money in the budget if they just stopped using it to try to buy votes. There are dozens of social programs that can go.
I’m not some kind of anarchist that wants all government done away with, I am a realist. There are certain amounts of government required to maintain a certain amount of order and infrastructure, but enough is enough already.
This piece of legislation was wrong from the get-go and it has now cost tax payers how much just defending it in 2 locales? And the state is now going to pay to defend it a 3rd? Excuse me, the state never pays for anything, they use our money to do it.
How much of our tax money did they waste enacting this crapola?
How much time, effort and our money did they waste fighting over the proposed smoking ban? I don’t care if you smoke, don’t smoke, hate smoke, or whatever, it was a monumental waste of time and tax dollars. You want a smoke-free bar or restaurant, open your own, leave the taxpayers alone.
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