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Fires in town
This week I had the opportunity to sit in court. I get that opertunity a lot.
There was one case where someone(over 70) used a coffee can to start sticks on fire. (This got my attention) He was not on a main street but out of the way, in the parking lot of a big box store. Heating his morning meal and coffee water at 6 am. He was ticketed for it. He did not pay the ticket. He opted for a judge to hear the case.
He was fined $50 for being a public nuisance. Let me see If I can put this as he did.
""You Honor: I do not have $50 and if I did I would be a fool for giving it to you. It is a muddy mess outside. I have no home. It will get down to 21F tonight and every night this week.
In Jail for the week: I will be clean. I will get a hot shower. I will eat 3 meals a day. I will have a bed that is not in the mud to sleep in. I will get my strength back, so I can go get day labor jobs and I might just get over this cold.
Now what incentive do you offer me to pay a fine for trying to get warm, a hot meal and out of the mud, before I went to look for a days wages?""
The judge ordered that he return to the jail every night at or about 7 pm That he be let out of jail no later then 6am every day. That all money he made be held for him. That a sack lunch be provided to him before he left every morning. That for the next 2 weeks he return to the jail at night and if he could not make it back in time he was to flag down a cop for a ride.
It was furtherer ordered that he be seen by a doc and that he was to receive this medical attention and his meds at the cost to the city for the duration of his incarceration.
Now is that a judge or what ??
Don
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Jack London has a short story like that.
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I like that story.
Thats a problem with fines too. You get a ticket for $500 and bill gates gets a ticket for $500. You clear $300 a week at your job. He clears $300 a second.
Equal justice under the law!
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Moral of the story - don't be like Bill Gates?
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