October 2000

The Catalog of Arguments

by Jeff Tolman, Guest Editor

Two waves are hitting courts now. The first is judicial efficiency. How long does it take a court to process a case? The powers that be apparently feel that quick justice is good justice. The second wave is being required to have a form for everything.

In my part-time judicial job, one of my monthly chores is the traffic mitigation and contested calendar. A contested hearing is "I didn't do it." Testimony of the officer is almost always taken by declaration. The alleged offender usually appears in person and testifies. The burden of proof for these civil infractions is a preponderance.

A mitigation hearing is "I did it, but I want to talk to you about it." In these hearings the court usually summarizes the officer's testimony, and then hears from the offender. The court can keep the amount of the ticket or lower it.

After doing thousands of these hearings, some themes have arisen. There are really only about 40 excuses/arguments any court hears. Below is a catalog of these arguments. Using the argument numbers rather than actually making the argument may be the perfect way to run a calendar.

The judicial reviewers should approve, because a form is involved, and it clearly will be more efficient than actually having drawn-out dialogue with the cited citizens. A judge will be able to do dozens of these hearings in an hour. The hearings would be succinct:

"Mr. Kirk, please come forward."
"Judge, I plead 1, 5, 27 and 39."
"Thank you, sir. Based on those arguments I will lower the fine to $50."
Next case is the Franz case. "Ms. Franz, please step forward"

...and off we would go to the next efficient hearing.

The excuses/arguments could be numbered as follows
	1. Don't the police have better things to do?
	2. The officer was rude.
	3. The officer was unconvinced when I told him my excuse.
	4. The officer should have given me a warning.
	5. I don't know how fast I was going, but I wasn't speeding.
	6. I don't think radar is reliable.
	7. I don't think the officer's speedometer was working when he paced me.
	8. The officer couldn't have seen if I had my seatbelt on or not from where she was.
	9. I had my seatbelt on. I took it off after I was stopped.
	10. The officer couldn't see if I stopped or not: a. There were trees/shrubs blocking the view. b. The stop line is back from the stop sign. I stopped and then crept into the intersection.
	11. I have a good record. I haven't had a ticket for years months days hours minutes seconds
	12. I don't have a good record, but have decided to do better from now on.
	13. The speed limit sign didn't exist.
	14. The speed limit sign isn't very visible.
	15. The speed limit sign isn't legal because .
	16. I don't think the speed limit sign is legal, but can't give you a specific reason why.
	17. My car won't go that fast.
	18. I thought the light was yellow.
	19. If the light had not been yellow I wouldn't have entered the intersection.
	20. I thought I had insurance, but my spouse forgot to pay the bill.
	21. The insurance card was in the glove compartment, but buried under enough tissue to dab up Lake Michigan.
	22. It was a new car. I was used to one with different-sized tires.
	23. The speed limit is too low.
	24. All the other cars were going that fast.
	25. I've gone past cops that fast before and not received a ticket.
	26. Come on, Judge, haven't you ever romped on a new car a little bit?
	27. Speed is a relative term. I was driving safely.
	28. I almost always drive the speed limit.
	29. My speedometer must be broken. It said I was going exactly the speed limit, maybe a little below.
	30. They must have changed the speed limit recently.
	31. The guy behind me was breathing up my tailpipe.
	32. I get scared at night and wanted to get home as soon as I could.
	33. The officer was mad because I said he looked like a dork in that uniform.
	34. The officer was just mad because I mentioned that if he didn't have a gun I'd kick the !@$#%@ out of him. Can't he take a joke?
	35. The mayor/sheriff/chief of police is a good friend of mine.
	36. My sister is a judge. She said not to mention her name, but she thinks this ticket should be dropped.
	37. I have a friend who had a next-door neighbor who judges sometimes, and she said that he said the ticket should be dropped.
	38. Where I come from (as if it is a different planet) what I did was legal. I guess Washington has some peculiar laws I'm unfamiliar with.
	39. My accelerator stuck. It's fixed now.
	40. I think this is a big conspiracy against me. I won't tell anyone if you drop the ticket.

While the efficiency experts may like this approach, two waves should be hitting the courts now. First, that each cited citizen has a right to be heard, no matter how long it takes. Second, that no form, no matter how long, could ever fully capsulize the excuses/reasons judges hear on the mitigation calendar.

Jeff Tolman is a lawyer and the part-time municipal court judge in Poulsbo. He has served on the WSBA Board of Governors and is a frequent speaker and writer on law-related topics. After 22 years he is still a true believer about our profession.

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