In normal times, this wouldn’t really even be a story, except perhaps in the crime blotter when she’s arrested for failure to pay them. But, this is the Woke World, where a person who is utterly irresponsible in her driving and following the rules of the road (really, they’re laws) can blame raaaaacism and Other People and have the media back her up. This is a Yahoo News reprint of an NBC News (national) article
Her unpaid tickets put her $20,000 in debt and at risk of jail. Activists are fighting for changes.
Jessica Washington, a single mother of two, moved from Chicago to Las Vegas in 2006 after she lost her airline job and needed a fresh start. In some ways, she found it: She moved into a roomy apartment, got hired by the Transportation Security Administration, and bought a used BMW.
Then the police began stopping her.
The first time was for a broken taillight, which she said came with a warning from the officer: “You’re going to get pulled over a lot driving this car.†Washington took it to mean that as a Black woman driving a nice automobile, she would be seen as suspicious.
Any proof of that? Or just casually saying the officer was racist and the news letting her get away with it.
The stops continued, for minor violations, even after she switched cars. She soon fell behind paying the tickets and her insurance, which led to more tickets, and more fines and fees that she couldn’t cover.
Then she learned how harsh her adopted state was for drivers in her predicament: Nevada is one of 13 states that consider traffic violations misdemeanor crimes, and when she didn’t pay, courts issued warrants for her arrest that included additional fines on top of what she originally owed. When she found a better paying job as a casino security officer, a warrant turned up on the background check; she settled it by rushing to court to get on a payment plan, which included more fees.
Since moving to Nevada, Washington has received dozens of tickets totaling about $4,431, a debt that ballooned to more than $20,000 with additional fines and fees, according to data analyzed by a law clinic that recently began helping her. She has paid more than $11,000, and the clinic’s volunteer lawyers helped her get some of the fines and fees waived. But she still owes $1,886.
The system is “money hungry,†Washington, 37, said. “And it’s hard to dig your way out of that hole.â€
Right, it’s the system. Which, BTW, is the same Big Government liberals push for. But, let’s be honest, most of the time an officer pulls you over for a reason. They weren’t the ones with a broken tail light. They weren’t speeding, careless driving, driving without proof of insurance, expired tags, no registration or an expired license.
Washington is among thousands of people in Nevada with warrants out for their arrest because they have not paid traffic tickets. And it doesn’t affect everyone equally: A 2003 study found racial disparities in traffic stops, with Black and Hispanic drivers more likely than whites to be pulled over statewide and in Las Vegas.
2003? But, muy raaaaacism! And there’s lots more of that through the article, till we get to this
Born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, Washington said she’d never been pulled over, let alone received a ticket, before moving to Nevada. When she was stopped around Las Vegas — sometimes for speeding, sometimes for careless driving — she also got cited for secondary offenses like driving without proof of insurance, expired tags, no registration or an expired license. (snip)
Washington acknowledged that some of the stops were legitimate, but others she said she believed were the result of officers targeting her because of her race. If she was wearing her TSA or casino security uniform, their tone usually changed, she said, and they let her off with a warning.
See, she was speeding with lapsed insurance, expired tags, and an expired license, but, it’s Someone Else’s fault and raaaaacism. And, yes, cops sometimes do go out of their way to pull people over, sometimes over race, sometimes over something else. I had a run in with a cop in NJ which was a load of crap, and he searched my car illegally. I requested a supervisor. But, a state trooper showed up, berated the local, and asked if I wanted to file a complaint. Nah. I just wanted to get back to NC. But, I’ve been pulled for speeding. I didn’t blame the cop. I was speeding. Take responsibility for your own actions. Articles like this take the blame away from people who’ve done wrong.
“You’re going to get pulled over a lot driving this car.â€
He obviously meant “BMWs with broken tail lights and expired tags”.
Las Vegas PD answers over a million 911 calls a year. They really don’t have time to go cruising for black people driving BMWs for no good reason.
Should the Penalty be the same (same fine) for everyone? Obviously that penalty is much if the fine is always the same it is harsher for the poor than for the rich. In all other sentencing the Judge has discretion according to the individual
Aside from race,justice in the USA has always had a class component
“analysis showed of the 399,771 stops made statewide, 11.2 percent involved black drivers, who make up only 6.2 percent of the state’s population”
Rather than assume racism, tell us how much blacks in NV are likely to be speeding, careless driving, unsafe cars, lacking insurance, and having unpaid violations. THEN compare racial numbers. A study in NJ found that blacks were FAR more likely to commit traffic violations, and when taken into account, cops were no more likely to pull over blacks than any other race. And, the cops can rarely see the race of the driver before pulling them over, never at night.
How can you tell someone’s race when they are driving? Window tinting makes it so that you can decent few if any characteristics of a driver, even through the windshield.