Wed, Aug 2nd, 2006 | 1:08pm |
Bananas!
Local6.com has a story about a guy that
could face jail time for a message he left on the $10 check he sent the Berkley District Court for a parking violation.
The computer programmer [Robert Militzer] from Allen Park got the ticket May 29. When Militzer wrote the check to Berkley District Court, he scribbled on the memo line, "BULL (expletive) MONEY GRAB." That got Militzer an in-person court appearance -- on a contempt of court charge.
He's scheduled to go before a judge Wednesday, accompanied by an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who will argue Militzer's remark is protected by the First Amendment.
Militzer, 38, was ticketed for parking in front of a friend's house overnight. He said he obeyed signs prohibiting parking between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. during previous visits, but the signs weren't there the morning he was cited. "I thought they were gaming me, collecting fines without giving people a fair chance to avoid it," Militzer told The Detroit News. ...He added, "It let them know I felt they were being unfair."
Richard Eshman, Berkley's public safety director, said Militzer could have requested a hearing to argue against the ticket. "There's an avenue for protesting that kind of thing," he said. ACLU lawyer Elsa Shartsis said Militzer's "choice of words may not be the best, and it may offend some people, but it's not illegal."
This story's ridiculous. Does this also mean you can no longer write "for sexual favors" in the memo line of checks you write?
Posted by: dave on Aug 3rd, 2006 | 9:35am