[jrm]

Malum Prohibitum is correct, there is no duty in GA to disclose voluntarily. The next question one might ask is whether or not one should disclose in the absence of a requirement to do so. There are varying opinions on this topic. Reasons for disclosing usually given are to earn good will with a LEO who may be waffling on whether to ticket you are not, and to avoid an escalation if you are searched for some reason. Reasons against disclosing are that not all LEOs are CCW-friendly, you are inviting the LEO to disarm you and "inspect" your weapon, and GA's firearms laws are so flaky that it's difficult to know in any given spot in the world whether it is legal to be packing, even with a GFL, so you might be confessing to a crime.

 

[jrm]

There was a problem with people buying insurance and then canceling it after they got insurance cards. Insurance companies are required now to report the status of policies to a state-mandated database. A LEO can find out through that database if you have insurance or not, and the datbase is kept current. An insurance card no longer is valid for proof of insurance. Its only value now is for providing information to other motorists when there's an accident (or, for people who don't like the phrase "accidental discharge," when there's a negligent).

 

[jrm]

Was that in GA? Doesn't seem like a ticket would have stuck, anyway.

 

[jrm]

Well, if I understand the situation, the officer's story is that cars went faster than him? What would he put on the ticket as your speed, required by OCGA 40-6-187? How could he prove it? Let's say he was doing 50 and cars passed him going faster. How could he testify what the speed of the car passing him was?

 

[jrm]

It's hard enough to estimate the speed of a car that passes you when you are stationary. It's harder still to guess the speed of a car that already is ahead of you, and that speeds up. It is yet harder to guess the speed of a car that already is ahead of you, and that speeds up when you yourself are moving. Is your speed static, or are you accelerating? A car that accelerates away from you quickly might just be accelerating (i.e., increasing its speed), without exceeding the speed limit. People just are not good at determining the speed of a car. Given that the law requires the officer to write the speed on the ticket, whatever number he picks is going to be his subjective guess as to the speed, and will be open to vigorous attack on cross examination.

 

[jrm]

My sister got a ticket that way. She passed a cop who was doing the limit.

While the officer's testimony of this fact might be convincing, there still is the problem of the actual speed having to be written on the ticket. There also is the law that prohibits charging someone with speeding based on a radar reading unless the speed is 10 mph over the limit. One might argue that it would not make sense and would be grossly unfair to convict someone of speeding based on "eyedar" unless the evidence shows the speed was at least 10 mph over.

 

[jrm]

I actually felt sorry for him when the judge gave him 90 days in jail and a $1000 fine.

This is the very reason why simple traffic violations should not be crimes. They should be civil offenses, punishable only by fines. Ninety days in jail would ruin many a person's life (loss of job, inability to pay mortgage, foreclosure of house, default on other loans).

 

[jrm]

This was a municipal court hearing on an traffic ticket. The judge had no business sentencing someone for a crime that had not been charged, let alone for which no conviction had been obtained.

 

[jrm]

If I were czar of the universe, that stuff just wouldn't happen.

But, you mentioned something that brings up another thing I never have understood about GA sentencing. I'm familiar with systems where a defendant can do community service as a sentencing alternative, or as part of a probation option, but I don't get how a court can impose community service as a sentence. Doesn't that violate the 13th Amendment? I haven't researched it, but it just doesn't seem right.

 

[jrm]

And she was duly convicted of perjury?

 

[jrm]

Oh, yeah, the crime that the judge insists everyone has committed and is therefore precluded from testifying otherwise.

 

[jrm]

Gunsmoker, you are spot on. I bet a survey of the man on the street would find the majority ignorant of the fact that they can go to jail for a first offense of speeding.

It's bad enough that the legislature gets carried away when defining criminal behavior and establishing massive ranges of potential punishment. GA law also permits municipalities to define crimes, and they do so with a vengeance. The list of things we are willing to fill our jails over is just ridiculous.

 

[jrm]

Anybody see the AJC article on the college kids that drove side by side on 285 at 55 mph for five minutes and videotaped it?

Apparently, 285 was empty as they approached, and the people behind them were very upset. Some state trooper was commenting that their behavior was perfectly legal. If that is true, then we need a law that says to keep out of the left lane if not passing.

What we need is for the trooper to read OCGA 40-6-40(d), which says, "No two vehicles shall impede the normal flow of traffic by traveling side by side at the same time while in adjacent lanes...."

 

[jrm]

I am thinking about finding one of those high volume toilets that holds like 5 gallons on the internet and having it installed just out of spite. I am pretty sure I can get those from Canada.

I think the federal Energy Policy Act of 1992 prohited importation of said toilets, which are a scourge on the lower 48.

 

[jrm]

This may be true, but I can find a 4 plus gallon toilet that has dual flush capability and have it shipped directly.

"Gee, your Honor, I know I can't import a toilet from Canada, but I didn't. I ordered it on Ebay."

 

[jrm]

Sam,

keep it in the glove box or console until you get your GFL. Then, you can keep it on the seat.