People have many ideas about what justice should look like. For most people, justice ought to ignore things like class or wealth when it comes to dispensing judgments. Being wealthy, the son of someone important or having a significant position in government or society should not lead to special treatment by a court.
Of course, historically this has often not been the case. Society has traditionally been highly preferential, treating certain classes of people with kid gloves while others receive far harsher punishments, penalties or regulations.
Even the US wasn’t immune to these prejudices, despite not having an aristocracy like the United Kingdom. That said, the United States has always prided itself in its legal system, which promises to treat people fairly and not allow wealth or position in society or government sway a court from dispensing the correct ruling or judgment. Of course, sometimes the United States falls short of this goal.
Judges Using Vanity Plates To Avoid Traffic Tickets
An example can be found in the news. Recently, some judges came under fire because of their use of judicial vanity plates – i.e. vanity plates that announced or signified their profession. This is problematic because some judges try to use these plates to avoid being pulled over. Others, upon being pulled over, have actually had speeding tickets retracted or expunged by officers who realized who they pulled over.
The state Commission on Judicial Conduct determined that no judge or family member of a judge should use their status to avoid being charged. Judges that do use their position to get out of a traffic violation or criminal matter can be disciplined.
While some observers of this have expressed outrage, the act of owning a judicial vanity plate has been found to be perfectly legal – obviously the corruption that follows is unacceptable, but merely having vanity plates isn’t against any law. This is very concerning for those who believe that justice should be administered fairly to all, without regards to how important a person might be.
If you happen to be in a position of authority and made an unsuccessful attempt to get out of a traffic ticket, you still have an option to fight the charge. Call a skilled traffic defense attorney to help you fight the charge and minimize the fines and possible insurance rate increases.