Driving Freedoms - National Motorists Association

Spring 2011Driving FreedomsDrivingFreedomsTable Of ContentsVolume 22 • Issue 2Spending Your Money....................... 2The NMA’s Visionary Club................ 3NMA Washington Report................... 4Vehicle Accident Reconstruction....... 5A Powerful Case............................... 7News From Around The Country....... 9Two Cases, Two Strategies............. 10The Experts Corner..........................11SCCs & Activists List....................... 12Members Write................................ 13Copyright © 2011 by NMA Foundation.All rights reserved.Driving Freedoms (permit # 0716556-KWP) is theofficial publication of the NMA Foundation, Inc. DrivingFreedoms is published quarterly by the NMA Foundation,Inc., 402 W. 2nd St., Waunakee, WI 53597. (608/849-6000)Email: nma@motorists.org Web site: www.motorists.org.Nonprofit bulk permit paid Madison, WI. Annual membership inthe National Motorists Association includes a subscription toDriving Freedoms.Editorial StaffManaging Editor............................Gary BillerStaff Writer............................. James J. BaxterStaff Writer................................. Aaron QuinnStaff Writer.................................Robert TalleyGuest Writer...................Jerry F. Cuderman IIGuest Writer..................................Sasha LanzEditor-at-Large.............................. Bill JordanCover“A Powerful Case by Law Enforcementfor Safe and Realistic Speed Limits”Spending Your Moneyby James J. Baxter, President, NMAYep, we’re spending yourmoney every single day. Mondaythrough Friday we’re sendingout legislative alerts – todayMissouri and Florida are hot spots– responding to media inquiries,reviewing legal arguments and, ofcourse, helping folks with trafficticket problems.In March, we did somethinga little out of the ordinary. Wesubmitted an amicus curiae briefto the Massachusetts SupremeJudicial Court.In 2009, the MassachusettsState Legislature passed andthe Governor signed a bill thatrequires traffic ticket defendantsto pay a fee to defend themselvesin court. The law requires a fee of$25 just to get a hearing before anadministrative clerk.The police officer whoissued the citation doesn’t evenhave to attend this hearing. Thecost to get a hearing in a realcourt with a real judge, with thepolice officer present, is another$50. Just to heap absurdity uponinjustice, these mandatory feesare not refundable, even when thecharges against the defendant aredismissed.We have railed against thispractice, which we believe to beunconstitutional, ever since thelaw was passed in Massachusetts.We were fully prepared to challengethis law in court if we couldfind a suitable defendant to pressthe issue in an appellate court.We lucked out. Quiteindependent of our efforts, anattorney by the name of RalphSullivan challenged a trafficticket he had received, lost atthe hearing process, and won onappeal to a regular court. Ralphmade a motion to have his $75in fees returned, which the courtdenied. Ralph appealed thatdenial.Meanwhile, in another cornerof the Massachusetts justicesystem, another motorist lost hischallenge of a parking ticket,this time in an administrativehearing run by the same agencythat issued the parking ticket.(The State seems oblivious tothe obvious conflict of interestin this system.) Unhappy withthe outcome, the parking ticketrecipient appealed the hearingverdict. This is where hediscovered that it would cost anonrefundable $275 to appealhis $15 parking ticket. With thehelp of the ACLU, this issuealso entered the appellate courtsystem.In a rare and unusual act,the Massachusetts SupremeJudicial Court requested that theSullivan and parking ticket casesbe transferred to its jurisdictionand consolidated for review.This proved to be an excellentopportunity to weigh in on thisissue on behalf of our membersand motorists in general.After reviewing the argumentssubmitted by all parties,(Continued on Page 4)