COLUMN: When justice isn't blind, it isn't fair
A lot of people are interested in the investigations and recall efforts taking place in the City of Pendergrass.
Based on the comments we’re getting on our website and the number of emails and phone calls I get, a lot of folks are very upset with the town’s leadership.
One of the issues that’s generated a lot of talk in the community is the town’s court system. When the three whistleblowers came forward in July with their allegations against Pendergrass officials, one of their main complaints was that city officials routinely “fixed” a lot of tickets written by the town’s police department. (“Fixing” tickets means a ticket was thrown out, or reduced, without the accused having to appear in court, or for reasons that were not judicial in nature, such as friendships between the person charged and city officials.)
The town’s former city clerk estimated the number of tickets being fixed at 20-30 percent of all tickets written.
But “fixing” tickets is apparently not illegal, according to District Attorney Brad Smith. Ticket fixing does not imply that any money changed hands, therefore anything else done with a ticket by the court would be legal, as long as financial consideration — bribery — wasn’t involved.
Because of that distinction, Smith didn’t call for a criminal investigation into the Pendergrass court. Instead, he called for a “review” by the Administrative Office of the Courts of Georgia, an agency that provides a variety of support services to courts in the state. The agency apparently doesn’t have an investigative arm, so how it’s looking into the Pendergrass court and what it’s looking at isn’t clear.
Although there have been no public allegations of bribery in the handling of Pendergrass tickets, many are still deeply troubled by a court system that reportedly tosses out or reduces tickets based on non-judicial criteria. Is such a system really fair?
There are two ways to look at this issue. Some would say that the Pendergrass court should toss out a large number of tickets. After all, most would agree the town’s police department writes too many tickets anyway.
Indeed, Pendergrass ruined its reputation by stopping a massive number of cars along a small stretch of highway for petty offenses, such as window tint or muffler violations. Everyone knows Pendergrass is the state’s most abusive traffic trap designed to raise a lot of money for the city’s bank account.
One might argue that tossing out a lot of tickets is a measure of justice for that abuse, except for one thing — it isn’t blind justice. When city officials go though tickets and have certain ones pulled tossed, that isn’t justice, it’s favoritism.
According to the former city clerk, a lot of people reportedly take their tickets directly to the city court judge at his law office to be dismissed. After the regular court each month, the judge opens a briefcase with those tickets and had her “nol pros” — not process — those special tickets.
Probably most of the tickets in Pendergrass getting this special treatment are local people, those who know city officials, or who live in the area.
That may be legal, but it is hardly an example of a fair and impartial judicial system. Theoretically, our courts are supposed to hear all cases equally and blindly without fear or favor (hence the blindfolded woman on the court logos.)
But in Pendergrass, there can’t be impartial and fair justice if one group of people — the connected — routinely get treated differently and better than the “unconnected.” Favoritism in the courts, whatever its motive, is antithetical to what the court stands for in the first place.
To a degree, this kind of thing probably goes on in many small town courts. But it’s doubtful that it goes on to the extent it is in Pendergrass whose court is more like an assembly line for cash than a real judicial proceeding.
It will be interesting to see if the state review of the Pendergrass court deals with this issue of fairness.
But whatever happens, this much is true: When justice isn’t blind, it isn’t fair; when it isn’t fair, people lose faith in their courts; and when people lose faith in their courts, justice dies.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
One of the issues that’s generated a lot of talk in the community is the town’s court system. When the three whistleblowers came forward in July with their allegations against Pendergrass officials, one of their main complaints was that city officials routinely “fixed” a lot of tickets written by the town’s police department. (“Fixing” tickets means a ticket was thrown out, or reduced, without the accused having to appear in court, or for reasons that were not judicial in nature, such as friendships between the person charged and city officials.)
The town’s former city clerk estimated the number of tickets being fixed at 20-30 percent of all tickets written.
But “fixing” tickets is apparently not illegal, according to District Attorney Brad Smith. Ticket fixing does not imply that any money changed hands, therefore anything else done with a ticket by the court would be legal, as long as financial consideration — bribery — wasn’t involved.
Because of that distinction, Smith didn’t call for a criminal investigation into the Pendergrass court. Instead, he called for a “review” by the Administrative Office of the Courts of Georgia, an agency that provides a variety of support services to courts in the state. The agency apparently doesn’t have an investigative arm, so how it’s looking into the Pendergrass court and what it’s looking at isn’t clear.
Although there have been no public allegations of bribery in the handling of Pendergrass tickets, many are still deeply troubled by a court system that reportedly tosses out or reduces tickets based on non-judicial criteria. Is such a system really fair?
There are two ways to look at this issue. Some would say that the Pendergrass court should toss out a large number of tickets. After all, most would agree the town’s police department writes too many tickets anyway.
Indeed, Pendergrass ruined its reputation by stopping a massive number of cars along a small stretch of highway for petty offenses, such as window tint or muffler violations. Everyone knows Pendergrass is the state’s most abusive traffic trap designed to raise a lot of money for the city’s bank account.
One might argue that tossing out a lot of tickets is a measure of justice for that abuse, except for one thing — it isn’t blind justice. When city officials go though tickets and have certain ones pulled tossed, that isn’t justice, it’s favoritism.
According to the former city clerk, a lot of people reportedly take their tickets directly to the city court judge at his law office to be dismissed. After the regular court each month, the judge opens a briefcase with those tickets and had her “nol pros” — not process — those special tickets.
Probably most of the tickets in Pendergrass getting this special treatment are local people, those who know city officials, or who live in the area.
That may be legal, but it is hardly an example of a fair and impartial judicial system. Theoretically, our courts are supposed to hear all cases equally and blindly without fear or favor (hence the blindfolded woman on the court logos.)
But in Pendergrass, there can’t be impartial and fair justice if one group of people — the connected — routinely get treated differently and better than the “unconnected.” Favoritism in the courts, whatever its motive, is antithetical to what the court stands for in the first place.
To a degree, this kind of thing probably goes on in many small town courts. But it’s doubtful that it goes on to the extent it is in Pendergrass whose court is more like an assembly line for cash than a real judicial proceeding.
It will be interesting to see if the state review of the Pendergrass court deals with this issue of fairness.
But whatever happens, this much is true: When justice isn’t blind, it isn’t fair; when it isn’t fair, people lose faith in their courts; and when people lose faith in their courts, justice dies.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
O well, KARMA IS A BITCH!!! The TOLBERTS will see their days in COURT!!!