Posted on 08/09/2017 10:49:31 PM PDT by Olog-hai
In a single morning, courts on Wednesday threw out more than 640,000 warrants for New Yorkers ticketed for minor offenses years ago.
The move — requested by prosecutors and hailed by the mayor — marks a sweeping step in city officials’ efforts to promote what they see as a more fair and workable approach to low-level offenses. But one of the city’s five district attorneys said the dismissals sent a problematic signal about law-breaking. […]
The warrants date back a decade or longer and stem from summonses for nonviolent, small-scale offenses such as littering, open-container drinking, being in a park after hours or walking an unleashed dog. The warrants were issued after recipients didn’t show up in court or pay fines. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Well, I guess they were smart to ignore their tickets then, if the city is gonna’ be completely chickenshit about it.
At least some of them are probably from people who were visiting the Rotten Apple and simply skipped bail - if there was bale.
I favor “broken window” policing but, justice delayed is justice denied. Ten years? Way too late for those warrants for these minor crimes.
But this has encouraged the scofflaws even more!
Today I saw something I had never seen before: A motorized bike going right through a red light at Lincoln Center, a busy confusing set of intersections.
I had seen one motoring down the sidewalk, at night, on a narrow sidewalk with lots of tree plots, going pretty fast.
It almost seems like they are celebrating the removal of criminal penalties. I can’t wait till we get Viverito and de Blase out of here. Would be nice if our first woman mayor was a conservative (but not too conservative for NYC).
NYC needs someone who is “too conservative”. Who else would have the guts to save the city from itself?
“...open-container drinking, being in a park after hours or walking an unleashed dog.”
Those warrants should be dropped. Such minor warrants lead to job and housing problems later in life all because you walked your dog in a manner that is not prescribed by the law.
If anything, the laws need to be repealed/revised. As Tacitus pointed out, a government that is “most corrupt” has a plethora of draconian laws in place.
e bikes pose zero danger to NYs - they are a huge nuisance but not a danger
motor vehicles on the other hand pose a real and constant deadly danger to every New Yorker. Drivers kill or maim 50,000 New Yorkers every year.
“As Tacitus pointed out, a government that is “most corrupt” has a plethora of draconian laws in place.”
Tacitus underestimated the meanings of “most,” “plethora” and “draconian”
That probably is exactly why they were tossed. It is a way to make it more difficult for ICE to track illegals if their warrants have disappeared.
Kind of ironic that the places with the highest taxes also tend to be the ones that don’t collect from the criminals but keep making the citizens pay for them....
I meant not too conservative to win.
These were motor vehicles, and they are dangerous when on dark, narrow sidewalks and going through red lights.
Pronouncements that may be valid in theory, or may work in less-populated areas, are often way off the mark when trotted in to discuss New York City, a congested area of over 8 million people.
Well, what with his having chronicled Nero’s reign, I doubt that he did.
‘dangerous’ ?
that’s not what the data shows. The data shows cars kill or maim 50,000 new yorkers every year. E-bikes ? nil
I hate e-bikes with a passion, but it’s drivers that are deadly dangerous in NYC
Nothing ever went through a red light except a pedestrian back in the day. Now it is time for Anything Goes. Well, I’m the one who lives here and I don’t like it. I’m a NeverDeblasio-er, and I’d like to get rid of many on the City Council as well.
Also my Assemblywoman, whose idea it was to let dogs be allowed in restaurants.
in my neighborhood (10021), every 5 weeks a elderly person is killed by a driver. That’s a real problem
I’ve noticed some new recklessness among drivers as well. For one, they make illegal turns on Broadway when pedestrians have the green light. They’re supposed to wait at the mall (street divider) for the pedestrians’ light to turn red. It’s gotten much, much worse. A lot of close calls. The buses do it too. Interestingly, the cabs do not.
Every time I hear one of those warning announcements at an intersection (Wait. Wait. Wait.) I want to smash it. As if those pesty things are going to solve the problem.
Clue for de Blasio: It’s not our fault.
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