“FreedomBeat: Law gives cops ‘license’ to print money,”
read the subject line of an e-mail sent from our liberty watchdog, Jim Amrhein. Think police departments aren't motivated by revenue? Check out this story from Mr. Amrhein:
Houston municipal police have been using a loophole in the wording of a 2003 law intended to prohibit camera-proof coverings on vehicle license plates to write over 9,500 tickets so far in 2007 -- for harmless license plate brackets, like those with dealership logos, personal mottoes (“World's Greatest Dad!”) or sports team names on them.
According to a June 17 Houston Chronicle article, police have written over 2,200 of these $98 tickets since May 4 -- the date a new law was passed clarifying the 2003 ordinance's intent to pertain ONLY to brackets and screens that "significantly obscure" a license plate's vital data! But this new law (which Houston P.D. lobbying organizations SUPPORTED) isn't set to take effect until September...
“Yes, you read that right,” our civil liberties guru wrote. “Houston cops are writing scads of citations (one officer wrote 30 in ONE DAY) for ‘breaking’ a law they know to be improperly applied -- and for which, come September, they'll no longer be able to write anywhere near as many tickets.”
In 2007 alone, revenue from these frivolous citations has exceeded $930,000. As of June 1, Houston cops were still writing these bogus tickets at a rate of around 2,000 per month...
Houston municipal police have been using a loophole in the wording of a 2003 law intended to prohibit camera-proof coverings on vehicle license plates to write over 9,500 tickets so far in 2007 -- for harmless license plate brackets, like those with dealership logos, personal mottoes (“World's Greatest Dad!”) or sports team names on them.
According to a June 17 Houston Chronicle article, police have written over 2,200 of these $98 tickets since May 4 -- the date a new law was passed clarifying the 2003 ordinance's intent to pertain ONLY to brackets and screens that "significantly obscure" a license plate's vital data! But this new law (which Houston P.D. lobbying organizations SUPPORTED) isn't set to take effect until September...
“Yes, you read that right,” our civil liberties guru wrote. “Houston cops are writing scads of citations (one officer wrote 30 in ONE DAY) for ‘breaking’ a law they know to be improperly applied -- and for which, come September, they'll no longer be able to write anywhere near as many tickets.”
In 2007 alone, revenue from these frivolous citations has exceeded $930,000. As of June 1, Houston cops were still writing these bogus tickets at a rate of around 2,000 per month...
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