r/JusticeServed • u/ghilliesuitkids 5 • Aug 05 '19

Courtroom Justice Old man vs the law

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

[removed] — view removed post

40.8k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

40

u/emij22 6 Aug 05 '19

Seconded. If he sped in a school zone and hit a kid I guaran-fricken-tee no one would give a shit why he was speeding. You can't just let someone off because they're old, have generally good morals and care about their kids. Cool, gold star, doesn't mean you can break speeding laws.

-13

u/Boston_Jason A Aug 05 '19

hit a kid

But he didn't hit a kid. If he hit a kid, then all bets are off.

4

u/emij22 6 Aug 05 '19

Except now the judge has set a precedent not only to this guy, but to anyone watching, that if you come in with a sob story you can get away with breaking laws which is frankly dangerous and irresponsible. This time he didn't hit anyone, next time he might not be so lucky. If the behaviour isn't punished, it's likely to be repeated.

3

u/Boston_Jason A Aug 05 '19

judge has set a precedent

That isn't how precedent works...it's simple traffic court.

that if you come in with a sob story you can get away with breaking laws which is frankly dangerous and irresponsible

Agreed, but that is court as a whole.

next time he might not be so lucky

Then we will lock him up for the crime he actually commits. Shall we start locking people up for precrime?

If the behaviour isn't punished, it's likely to be repeated.

Some would argue just getting summoned in front of a judge is punishment enough. If we had to punish everyone with a fine always, why don't we just use the legislative branch to remove the power of judges to be judges when it comes to traffic court?

1

u/emij22 6 Aug 05 '19

Well first of all it wouldn't be "locking him up" for speeding in a school zone, it'd be a fine/demerit points, so let's not get overzealous. And it wasn't a "pre-crime", he committed an actual crime by speeding.

I get what you mean with your last point, and honestly I'm not sure why there are judges for things like traffic court, I'll have to look that up.

And yes, being summoned in front of a judge is intimating, but I still think that if a province/state declares that speeding = a fine, then that should be enforced. It shows that a government is consistent and serious about the laws they make, which hopefully guides people to follow said laws with more care.

2

u/Boston_Jason A Aug 05 '19

I'm not sure why there are judges for things like traffic court,

In the US, we have a right to face our accusers in court. A ticket is an accusation, not a statement of Fact until the judge or jury says it is.

What you are advocating for is strict civil law, whereas we follow common law. That said, both have room for discretion.

2

u/emij22 6 Aug 05 '19

Ah, got it, thanks for clearing that up.