"The time you posted on this confession is 2 hours from now."
"Er... yeah. Should I just come back then?"

Uggg, it's not a forgiveness program. You still go before a judge and get sentenced.

Saborlas: Fano: This will work as well as the honor system for paying taxes.

I dunno, the option of showing up in counrt and getting something minor taken care of in 2 hours sounds better than getting "pulled over, hauled to jail, forced to post bond and see their vehicles impounded."

Exactly. There is a huge incentive to do this for criminals.

About 150 people who received letters from the sheriff's office are eligible for the today's second round of self-arrests. Of the 150 letters, 50 have come back with invalid addresses.


Color me shocked.

Englebert Slaptyback: About 150 people who received letters from the sheriff's office are eligible for the today's second round of self-arrests. Of the 150 letters, 50 have come back with invalid addresses.


Color me shocked.

How are they getting mail....

amanogowa: Englebert Slaptyback: About 150 people who received letters from the sheriff's office are eligible for the today's second round of self-arrests. Of the 150 letters, 50 have come back with invalid addresses.


Color me shocked.

How are they getting mail....

I misread that. I thought the *people* came in with invalid addresses.

According to the article, it's for minor offenses like traffic violations. These people aren't going to be sentenced to jail time. These are people who forgot to pay a parking ticket. They're going to go in front of a judge, pay a fine and it'll be done. Saves the courts money and saves the offender time, hassle, and additional fines (in the form of impound fees). In all likelihood, it's going to be otherwise-honest people who just want it off their record. I don't see a problem with the program.

I think the real story here is in the comments...

Did not expect to see this on the main page:

"You got me!

And FYI, the quickest way to prove that it stings is to keep handing out these teriffic insults! If it didn't bother you, then you wouldn't respond. But you're hawk fan, it's impossible for you to resist your urges! I can see you now, sitting in your mom's basement, wearing your 86 Rose bowl sweatshirt, coming up with these awesome GED put downs and gigling about it....."

Great idea. A decade ago I would have prayed for this program in NJ.

amanogowa: amanogowa: Englebert Slaptyback: About 150 people who received letters from the sheriff's office are eligible for the today's second round of self-arrests. Of the 150 letters, 50 have come back with invalid addresses.


Color me shocked.

How are they getting mail....

I misread that. I thought the *people* came in with invalid addresses.

You were still right; it was badly worded. It said 150 people received letters, even though 50 of those 150 came back with invalid addresses. It would be hard to receive a letter AND have it returned as an invalid address.

Why don't they do this everyday?

I'd imagine that it would suck to be pulled over for something stupid and then find out there's a warrant for your arrest. Seriously, how hard is it to mail someone a letter as a heads-up and give them the option to come in and take care of it?

doveroftke: I'd imagine that it would suck to be pulled over for something stupid and then find out there's a warrant for your arrest. Seriously, how hard is it to mail someone a letter as a heads-up and give them the option to come in and take care of it?

You don't understand! These people are criminals and need to be punished. The process is part of their punishment.

I think its a great idea. Quite often you(read, I) have a warrant hanging over your head for something small. The only way to get rid of it is to turn yourself in or hire a lawyer. If I had money for a lawyer I'd have paid the fine! If I had money to bail out with I'd have paid the fine!

Instead I sit in jail and lose my job.

I once did two nights on a seatbelt ticket. They seize your wallet upon arrest and deposit your cash into their account. For Safety Reasons!

I lost my job and incurred even more fines for processing and time spent. By the time i got released on my own recognizance I owed something like $250.

The original fine was $10.

I self-arrested myself but then I had to release myself because of a technicality. Of all the dumb luck.

To all of you who think this is coddling criminals, consider how much it costs to jail someone who forgot to pay a traffic ticket or take care of a bounced check from years ago. You see, people don't work in jails for free. Now consider how much it costs society becuase some one is banged up for an unpaid traffic ticket.

Such an amnesty program makes sense, and this move will save the taxpayers money. I know some of you "lock-em up" types are going to biatch about it, but that's too bad.

I've always wondered why they don't just garnish wages/government benefits for unpaid citations. That would make the most sense

I actually took advantage of this in my town. I really didn't even know I had the warrant until I had a thing in the mail about the amnesty program our city was doing at the time. I paid my ticket, which was 75 dollars.

I then proceed to get pulled over the next week and got a warning. Had I not paid that ticket, I would have been sitting in jail.

cmb53208: To all of you who think this is coddling criminals, consider how much it costs to jail someone who forgot to pay a traffic ticket or take care of a bounced check from years ago. You see, people don't work in jails for free. Now consider how much it costs society becuase some one is banged up for an unpaid traffic ticket.

Such an amnesty program makes sense, and this move will save the taxpayers money. I know some of you "lock-em up" types are going to biatch about it, but that's too bad.

I've always wondered why they don't just garnish wages/government benefits for unpaid citations. That would make the most sense

How hard is it, really, for someone to take care of a ticket right when they get it?

ArtemisGoldfish:
How hard is it, really, for someone to take care of a ticket right when they get it?

Not all tickets are like a bill you can mail in. Some require an in-person visit to the county clerk or courthouse to pay it, which involves time off work. Also, sometimes the fine is more than you have in your bank account and you have to wait until payday.

Or as they like to call it; "the put yourself in the system" game.

Free fingerprinting, background checking and rides to jail every time an unsolved crime happens in your town.

RawData: Or as they like to call it; "the put yourself in the system" game.

Free fingerprinting, background checking and rides to jail every time an unsolved crime happens in your town.

*eyeroll*

Tinfoil hat, much?

At least they sound honest about it instead of sending out 'winning lottery tickets' or whatever the scams were.

O RLY? (new window, it's been around for years)

How much you want to bet bin Ladin gets off this way?

ArtemisGoldfish:

How hard is it, really, for someone to take care of a ticket right when they get it?

It's just as easy to forget the thing, like a bill. Now of course when you don't pay a bill, whatever service you were billed for can be dunned until you pay and add a reconnection fee.

And also, not all of us have $150 laying about. Now before coming back with "they shoulda paid the ticket," ask yourself if it's worth the costs to jail someone for it. And remember that money comes from somewhere.

/Garnishment rather than jail would work for unpaid tickets