Liberty Unchained

The other day, I sent off a response to the “Infraction” notice that was provided by a police officer accusing me with “Speeding 65 in a 60″.

The response consisted of a motion to dismiss for lack of process ( The officer did not file the infraction within the two days proscribed by IRLJ 2.2(d):

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When a notice of infraction has been issued, the notice shall be filed with a court having jurisdiction over the infraction or with a violations bureau subject to such court’s supervision. The notice must be filed within two days of issuance of the notice, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. A notice of infraction not filed within the time limits of this section may be dismissed without prejudice.

Additionally, an affidavit was sent in noting that the prosecuting party could not be served because (a) there was no attorney listed for the prosecution, (b) the signature of the filing officer was illegible, (c) the clerk of court would not disclose who might be prosecuting such a case, and (d) since the infraction was not filed, the clerk could not tell me who the officer was.

Since the statute is pretty clear, I was hoping that the court would be moved as ordered, but unsurprised ( having dealt with cities before ) to see that instead of dismissing the ticket or scheduling a hearing on the motion, the court pretended that the motion to dismiss was simply a request for a contested hearing.

So now, I am looking into how exactly one goes about forcing those administering a court to do what they are supposed to do…in this case dismiss the ticket.

I have a few ideas which I am researching at the moment, but will wait to put them up here until I have decided on what my next step should be.

Some time back I had a city do this same thing and eventually turn my into collections for failing to pay an arbitrary fee that they claimed I must pay…when they had already refused payment, which by law means that I owed them nothing. I eventually had to write a letter to the collector and the mayor noting that I did not appreciate their antics and that unless they immediately stopped what they were doing I would see them in federal court on charges of racketeering and extortion…which worked flawlessly. ( Fortunate for me as at that time I knew a bit about law, but lacked some of what I would have needed to properly execute my threat on my own )