Dear Laine,
My husband got not one, but TWO tickets on the same day (less than an hour apart) because his tag blew off of his utility trailer he uses for work. Now he has to go to court. I think he should tell the judge that if he would explain how making a hard-working citizen pay two fines for what was really an act of God is protecting the community in any way, then we'd be happy to pay the fine, otherwise he should forget about it. What do you think?
Signed,
Ticked Over the Tickets

Dear Ticked,
That approach might be a good thing ONLY if a contempt of court charge and a visit to the county jail is on your husband's bucket list. If not, I wouldn't recommend it. Judges, like most folks, do not like ultimatums. I say why tempt fate? That judge may be itching to prove a point and bad attitude like that will only offer yourself as guinea pig for that experiment.

And if I may, I think you are failing to see the main point here which is this: if the tag had been secured properly, it would not have blown off in the first place. The law says the trailer must have a tag. Your husband's didn't. End of discussion.

Now the judge may or may not dismiss the charges--depending on the reason your husband gives and his attitude and the judge's personality. My advice (though I am no lawyer, just offering some common horse sense here) is to acknowledge the mistake, prove that steps have been taken to insure it never happens again, show remorse for the error and don't blame the cops and MAYBE you walk. Of course, if the cops don't show up for court, it may all be dismissed anyway. GOOD LUCK!!

Decidedly,
Laine