Ok, here's where it turns sour, and the system starts to show its ugly side. Sometime in 2002 or 2003, I got a ticket in Gun Barrel City, TX for not having the minimum insurance requirements on my car. That was definitely my fault (although I don't believe in insurance - it's just a way for rich people to protect their precious assets - and ends up being a scam for taking all of the poor's money). So, I took my ticket and went on my way. This happened before the law was passed that you get your car towed if you didn't have insurance, so thankfully I skipped out on that misery. But there was another law that had just come into play that I had no idea about...
Right around this time ('02-'03), some genius thought it would be for the better of the people that there be enacted a "surcharge" program. This law would state that anyone convicted of certain offenses would, on top of paying the fine and doing whatever else the charge entailed, have to pay a surcharge to the State every year. Anyone not doing so would get their license suspended. A letter would come to the address that your license was registered at stating that you would have to pay the charge. I, at the time, was pretty much homeless, and living all over the place, so I never got the letter. I had already paid off the fine, and thought that I was in the clear altogether.
One night, driving with friends in Denton, TX, a cop whipped around when he saw us driving by. We had committed no offense, only that it was 4am and we were all craving Taco Bell. After following us for a mile or so, and seeing that we were pulling over at the restaurant, he hit his lights on us and proceeded to check everyone's IDs. I felt calm knowing that I had no warrants and I was doing nothing wrong. He told me I had a suspended license, and I had to go to jail. None of my friends were allowed to take my car.
After a year in court, I finally got 15 months probation. A year and a half sentence for driving with a suspended license. Not to mention that I had already paid the insurance ticket, I had to get my car out of vehicle-jail, I had to get myself out of jail, I had to pay court costs and a State-appointed lawyer fee, the 3 year surcharge, which was about $250 year, plus I got another surcharge of $150 for another 3 years for driving with a suspended license! The whole thing ended up costing me around $2000 dollars.
They were happy to put me on probation, even though there was no way I could have afforded it. If I hadn't had a solid support system, I could easily have gone to jail over and over for this one little thing. I think it's ridiculous to have to go to jail for something so trivial.
Right around this time ('02-'03), some genius thought it would be for the better of the people that there be enacted a "surcharge" program. This law would state that anyone convicted of certain offenses would, on top of paying the fine and doing whatever else the charge entailed, have to pay a surcharge to the State every year. Anyone not doing so would get their license suspended. A letter would come to the address that your license was registered at stating that you would have to pay the charge. I, at the time, was pretty much homeless, and living all over the place, so I never got the letter. I had already paid off the fine, and thought that I was in the clear altogether.
One night, driving with friends in Denton, TX, a cop whipped around when he saw us driving by. We had committed no offense, only that it was 4am and we were all craving Taco Bell. After following us for a mile or so, and seeing that we were pulling over at the restaurant, he hit his lights on us and proceeded to check everyone's IDs. I felt calm knowing that I had no warrants and I was doing nothing wrong. He told me I had a suspended license, and I had to go to jail. None of my friends were allowed to take my car.
After a year in court, I finally got 15 months probation. A year and a half sentence for driving with a suspended license. Not to mention that I had already paid the insurance ticket, I had to get my car out of vehicle-jail, I had to get myself out of jail, I had to pay court costs and a State-appointed lawyer fee, the 3 year surcharge, which was about $250 year, plus I got another surcharge of $150 for another 3 years for driving with a suspended license! The whole thing ended up costing me around $2000 dollars.
They were happy to put me on probation, even though there was no way I could have afforded it. If I hadn't had a solid support system, I could easily have gone to jail over and over for this one little thing. I think it's ridiculous to have to go to jail for something so trivial.
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