269
submitted 11 months ago by stopthatgirl7@kbin.social to c/news@lemmy.world

Fenton, population 226, brings in over $1 million per year through its mayor’s court, an unusual justice system in which the mayor can serve as judge even though he’s responsible for town finances.

all 22 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee 61 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I live in Louisiana. Fenton is what's known here as a speed trap town.

Except for the i-10, every major highway in LA has these. The trick is that the average speed limit on these highways is around 60 or 70, and then it drops to 30 or 40 for a mile stretch where cops are waiting for you just after the sign.

If you missed the sign or haven't slowed down sufficiently by the time you reach it, they pull you over and write you a ticket for ~$600. I got one of these in 2018 for the latter reason.

You can follow the speed limit to the letter and miss one sign on accident. It actually is a trap. As the article says, It's a main source of income for the small towns along the highways of LA. It's corrupt as shit but we allow it so what can you do?

[-] FoundTheVegan@kbin.social 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

so what can you do?

Repeal the town charter and fold it in to the control of the county? I'm not going to pretend that I'm well versed in Louisiana law, but this has happened in lot of other states. If the town is a legitimate trap for the residents of that county/state then isn't it everyone's best interest? Including Fentons who clearly doesn't have another income source.

[-] HubertManne@kbin.social 5 points 11 months ago

omg! its literal Hazzard County!

[-] larsloveslegos@lemmy.world 53 points 11 months ago

Sounds like a grave conflict of interest

[-] stiephel@feddit.de 7 points 11 months ago

Yea, but that's just because it is.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 36 points 11 months ago

Yeah…. Uhm…. Seems like that’s a fairly easy thing to appeal?

[-] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 34 points 11 months ago

I assume that for many people the time and effort to try and appeal shit like this is way more than the original fine is worth.

That is why it keeps happening.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 29 points 11 months ago

yup. But, I imagine a half-decent lawyer could turn that into a class action and make bank.

[-] canthidium@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

I dunno the success of any suits against these towns, but they exist all over the country. They count on you passing through and not being able to come back for court.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Which is perhaps why a class action might be the best way to go, rather than just appealing it.

But part of due process is a free and impartial trial. I suspect there’s other forms of corruption, as well, though. It’s the kind of thing that festers

[-] Usul_00_@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

But you have to have $$ for it be worth a lawsuit. Notice in this case they don't even keep records, so it's likely hard to even fight them using their own papers. Better would be to contest in federal court using the Supreme Court opinion imo

[-] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

90+% of the victims of these towns lives far enough away that it's cheaper to just pay the damn ticket than drive 400 miles to show up for court.

[-] xyguy@startrek.website 23 points 11 months ago

This is the exact plot of Nothing but Trouble except the mayor in the movie is a literal dicknose.

[-] Zahille7@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

That movie sounds fucking insane.

[-] canthidium@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

It very much is. 2Pac dances in it. He was a dancer in Digital Underground. You might know them from the hit song "The Humpty Dance". There's a random performance from them in the movie.

[-] Zorque@kbin.social 6 points 11 months ago

I watched it once at the age of 8 in a hotel on a roadtrip. It has haunted my dreams ever since.

[-] expatriado@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago

ummm, holding an executive and judicial position simultaneously

this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
269 points (100.0% liked)

News

23259 readers
2623 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS