payment of fines

What is the name of your state? Florida

I was recently found guilty of a parking violation and the court has ordered me to pay a fine of $120.00. Is there any way to claim inability to pay?

I am a full-time 30 year old student and have been living independently for over 10 years. I have my tax papers for year 2002 and I am WAY below the poverty level.

Are there any statutes or laws to help people such as myself who do not have much money?

How much?

That's a puny ticket! Chances are, they won't care if you can't pay for it, it's your fault, I mean, they even proved you guilty, but hey, it's well worth the try though! My philosophy is people are cynical but they're not robots; believe it or not, they MAY have compassion.

I thought I WAS obeying the law.

The ticket was issued from my driveway for "blocking the sidewalk". I showed pictures to the judge where my wheels are not on the sidewalk but the bumper of my car juts over. This area is maybe 1 1/2 feet. The remainder of the sidewalk is @ 3 1/2 feet or so, with @ 6 feet width of lawn between the sidewalk and the street. I explained that, from my perspective while inside the vehicle, it appears as if I will hit the wall if I move closer to my place. Still, I am fined for my bumper hanging over the sidewalk.

Also, I can count all the people who walk by on one hand. These are mainly elderly neighbors who are walking there dogs.

A great "justice" this is in the great nation we call The United States of America.

What was I thinking when I served in the U.S. Navy to protect rights and justice such as this?

Don't sweat it, dude, this forum is another place where out of control cops can continue to humuliate law abiding citizens. I have yet to see one substantive answer. Most replies are intended to mock the person or to tell him/her once again how powerless we are.

I also posted an intelligent question about a parking ticket. Instead of trying to help to resolve the issue these so called "members" made a couple of comments indicating that the ticket was right and I should just be happy with what I have. All this after asking concrete questions about concrete procedures. I know that most tickets CAN be appealed and won, but you have to know the law, the procedure, etc. These guys here are not helping at all, just trying to mock us. After all, they are cops and their job is to write tickets for minor unintended mistakes, instead of preventing terrorist attacks on our land.

As much as I hate lawyers, I will gladly pay one in excess of what the ticket is, just not to give the revenue-collectors a chance to screw us out of our hard earned money.

Thanks, but no thanks... This is one of the most disappointing boards on the web...

Thanks for your support dafreerider. I can clearly see that you ANALYZED my question and responses very carefully. I had asked for knowledge of any AVAILS that might assist me but only received jeers from so called "EXPERTS". Whether these "EXPERTS" know or not, I cannot tell because there are no replies.

Yes, Home Guru, you gave a response, but did you answer the question? Do you know of any articles that may assist me?

Also, I see that you have made many posts and I am starting to wonder what kind of "guru" you are.

As to my comment about protecting the laws of this country, I guess I was expecting more. I have had a lot of experiences while visiting other countries and thought that the pests I have witnessed would not be so prevalent in the U.S. because of our laws. If we should be so strict as a country, then we should reexamine our laws and lump everything into a few basic categories of offenses and issue penalties based on those categories. That way, defining the law would be easier.

Right, Guru?

Guru, this is simply out of my own curiousity: Would you say that you NEVER "blocked" a sidewalk before? By "NEVER", of course, I mean your entire existence and since the advent of sidewalks.

your original question asked if there is some way you can get out of paying the ticket since you are poor. You also posted that you were found guilty. Does this mean you fought the ticket and lost? If yes, did you appeal the original decision? If no, then you are stuck with the fine.

I am not aware of any such program that excuses the payment of any ticket. I am sure you are aware what kind of havoc that would cause if there were such a program. Depending on your income, you could violate traffic laws without any care or concern that you would need to pay any fines.

Have you called the court to find out if they take payments or if you can pay by credit card?

I had the same problem with encroaching on a sidewalk when I parked behind my wife's car in our driveway. I received a ticket from Burbank PD after receiving a warning. I paid the ticket because my bumper was over the sidewalk. The ticket was $25. Now I dont block any part of the sidewalk that goes across my driveway.

Do you know why your ticket is $120?

My response:

If you can't pay the ticket, you can choose "community service."

They'll stick you out there with an orange vest, and give you tools and a bag to pick up litter by some other lawbreaker that wasn't caught like you were.

IAAL