A new law enforcement trend seems to press impaired-driving law into service as a way of pursuing other, unrelated law enforcement goals [Sullum, Reason]
Posts Tagged ‘traffic laws’
Device to auto-shut-down cellphones when car starts?
Yes, that’s what Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has actually suggested. Think of what a great idea in emergencies! [Bedard/U.S. News via Radley Balko, Reason “Hit and Run”]
“Washington: Legislature May Allow Cops To Seize Cars At Will”
“Police in Washington state will have the power to take any car for at least twelve hours under legislation passed unanimously by the state House earlier this month and considered by a Senate committee yesterday.” The bill would provide for minimum 12 hour impoundment of any vehicle in a DUI arrest, whether or not the charges are dropped or the vehicle is owned by an innocent third party. “The Towing and Recovery Association of Washington is one of the main lobbying organizations pushing for the adoption of the law.” [TheNewspaper.com]
London borough of Islington sues itself
And then demands attorneys fees over unjustified litigation; the dispute was over a parking ticket issued to one of its own departments which it wrongly presumed to be legally independent. Another local council won a fine against itself which it then had to pay, according to British author Barrie Segal [Lowering the Bar, Times Online “Money Central”]
December 21 roundup
- “CBO Stands By Its Report: Tort Reform Would Save Billions” [ShopFloor; our weekend post on what actually wound up in Reid bill]
- “Indianapolis Tacks on Steep Fines for Challenging Traffic Tickets” [Balko]
- “Fugitive Located Inside Homeland Security Dept. Office” [Lowering the Bar]
- Assumption of risk? New York courts field legal complaints over mosh dance injuries [Hochfelder]
- Company claiming patent on Ajax web technique is suing lots of defendants [W3C, ImVivo via @petewarden]
- Why Arizona voters still back Sheriff Joe [Conor Friedersdorf/Daily Dish, von Spakovsky/NRO (deploring “persecution” of Arpaio), Greenfield]
- “Are Breast Implants and Donated Organs Marital Assets?” [Carton, Legal Blog Watch]
- “Disbarment Looms for First Attorney Convicted Under N.J. Anti-Runner Law” [NJLJ]
Watch those hanging air fresheners
“Window obstructions” can give cops the pretext for a stop [Chicago Tribune]
July 6 roundup
- U.K.: “Families told doormats are health and safety risk” [Telegraph]
- Montana judge holds onto case for 34 years before finally issuing ruling [Popehat]
- Free speech and the web: panel from American Constitution Society convention [Above the Law]
- “Driver with ‘0’ license plates wrongly issued dozens of tickets” [Chicago Tribune, Obscure Store]
- Florida judge who presided over Anna Nicole Smith custody case accused in civil suit of looting elderly widow’s assets; probe however led to no criminal charges [Miami Herald, Bob Norman/Broward Palm Beach New Times]
- Economist/YouGov poll finds public supportive of limiting medical malpractice payouts [Point of Law]
- Someone writing San Francisco docket reports may have pawkish sense of humor [Lowering the Bar; Arcata, Calif. Eye’s famously droll police blotter, mentioned in this space five years ago]
- Suing over co-worker’s perfume [two years ago on Overlawyered]
“Lawyer blames his BMW for speeding and loses”
“A Portland attorney who blamed his German luxury car for a speeding ticket was told he was responsible, not the automaker,” reports AP/OregonLive: C. Akin Blitz brought in a PowerPoint presentation and the testimony of a mechanic to bolster his argument “that he had no idea his BMW 535xi was going 76 mph in a 55 mph zone because of its handling characteristics”, but Clatsop County Circuit Judge Philip Nelson disagreed and fined Blitz $182.
P.S.: Ken at Popehat: “Legal realism note: as a rule, you will not find traffic court judges sympathetic to the defense ‘Your honor, I am not guilty because my German luxury car is too awesome.”
“NYC Cops Repeatedly Ticket Parked Dead Guy”
Because, as Scott Greenfield points out, “This is NY. Death is no excuse.” [Jalopnik]
Ticketed for parking in their own driveways
The District of Columbia has a new way to raise revenue: “When Anderson complained to a supervisor at DPW she was told that she could lease the property from the District and avoid future tickets.”