thursday night entertainment

who knew that a ticket for an expired driving license could turn into a blessing in disguise? and to think that i was dreading my evening in court altogether. turns out to be quite an entertaining event. i'm not going to intentionally drive illegally so that cops will pull me over; i will simply show up at the township of wyckoff municipal court on the first, second, and fourth thursday of the month.

i was intrigued by the course of events. you wouldn't believe the amount of people - not only the amount but also the diversity (so a multicultural event to top things off). i think i was one of about fifty. to begin, you all line up to have the chance to talk with the prosecutor. people such as myself, who are simply guilty, move quickly. those with complications work towards adjournment, plea bargains, dismissals, and the like. then the judge comes in - we all stand of course. he goes through a routine announcement sort of check-list, explaining the rest of the evening. then he calls through each item (person and their offense) and each individual calls out from their seat "guilty" "not guilty" "guilty with plea bargain" "adjournment", etc. this night, august 23rd, 2007 saw a number of adjournments. (i'm not even sure if i'm spelling that right)

let me get to the entertainment. there were summons for construction without permits, a pool not being properly fenced, speeding tickets, disorderly conduct, driving without a license, driving with an expired license, complaint from neighbors for refuse and debris (a.k.a. a junkyard) in one's property, the list goes on. this last one caught my attention. it was a 72-year-old man who apparently has been there every month since october of 2005. since april of 2007 he has been paying a monthly fine with the promise to make progress in cleaning up his yard. it is estimated to take approximately 26 dumpsters to clean up his yard - he has filled 3. he claims he cannot move any more quickly or with more helpers - they don't know the difference between valuable metal scraps and true garbage. the prosecutor suggests that the judge sentence this man to steeper fines so as to motivate him to move more quickly. the judge discovers that this man is making (on his junk) more money in a month than his $2,500 monthly fine. incredible. so the judge doubles his fine to $5,000 a month until it is cleaned up. more incredible, he could be fined $2,000 a day!!!

my summons - not exciting. i think i said less than 10 words..."good evening" "guilty" "yes" (i understand blah blah blah)..."thank you". 3 hours in the court room, a total of $64 in fines ($25 for expired license, $33 for court fees, and $6 surcharge), was well worth it.

my brother-in-law, rick, who is a detective in paterson invited me to step into a real court...wyckoff is merely a circus. not sure i'm ready for that level just yet. maybe after a few more dates at court.

its struggling to upload pics as of now...will try again soon. (not of court, mind you)