Actually, having worked at the Hennepin County Violations Bureau as a temp, I can tell you all quite honestly that such deals are quite common whether people go to court or choose mediation by meeting with an officer at the violations bureau. That's what the mediation officers often will do in cases where an individual does not have other offenses.
The benefit to the system is that they still collect a fine but the county also reserves the right to come back and charge the issue if a similiar offense is committed by the individual within a year exacting the full punishment for the excused offense as well as the new one. This option is very commonly used with all kinds of offenses so I think that it is quite a stretch to call this special treatment. This is used with far more serious offenses both contextually and in level of offense. I had an extended family member who was upset about getting a speeding ticket because they had never got a ticket in their many years of driving. They went to officer mediation and recieved a deal similiar to that in this case. Pay a fine and don't do it again and will officially keep it off your record so long as you do not committ a similiar offense for a year. I can tell my relative has been on their best behavior when driving so the desired result of prevention of speeding in their case is probably greater than if they had paid the ticket. The benefit to my relative is that their insurance rates will not go up as no points will show up on their record-unless they offend again! SOOO...YES you can get the same deal if you choose to go through the mediation process and even if you are arrested for an offense and have to go to court, depending on the nature of the offense, such an arrangement is far from uncommon. David Strand Loring Park --- Terrell Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- David Wilson refering to CM Johnson Lee's court > appearance wrote: > > > I wonder whether you or I would get the same deal > if we were charged > > with the same things? > > Of course not. But most of us won't go hire an > attorney every time we > happen to meet a traffic cop. > > We'd probably call this "special rights for those > with high profiles." > Maybe for those who spend the bucks to hire an > attorney. > > I wonder how much we spend on record keeping to see > that she "avoids a > similar citation" for the next year? Sounds like a > sweet deal to me. > > > > Terrell Brown > Loring Park > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site > design software > http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com > REMINDERS: > 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the > list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing > it on the list. > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic > Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
