Last evening I was in Municipal Court among approximately 20 other Southeastern Wisconsin residents. It was a 5 p.m session (I wonder how much it costs our local government to conduct court "after hours") and it proved to be an enlightening experience.
I was in court because I had been stopped a few months ago for a headlight that was out. I received a citation which required me to go to the police station and show them that my headlight had been fixed. Funny thing was, the problem with my headlight was a quirky wire and as the policeman was writing the citation the headlight came back on again.
I did still receive the citation.
So I forgot about the citation and I let it slip. Two months later a policeman showed up at my door, which scared my kids....fast forward to yesterday and there I sat...in Civil Court at 5 p.m. The Judge came in at about 5:15, all rise and the proceedings began.
If you were contesting your citation/violation you could say, "Not Guilty" and your court date would be moved to March 14th....so with that carrot about half the people in the courtroom cleared out. That left twoDUI's (I think they call it something different in Wisconsin, like OWU or something similar), a few driving without a license, one review from having completed traffic school, and two gents in handcuffs- one of which was in an orange jumpsuit.
When they brought him out there were a few grimaces...I have to admit I was making one of those faces.
There were at least 3 people in court that evening who could not speak English and there was no interpreter last evening. A man in the courtroom was asked to stay and translate. This is where it got a little interesting. One of these citizens who were being translated for was of "illegal" status and admitted so, which is not why she was in court. She was in court because she did not have a driver's license.
So what can the judge do? His courtroom is not equipped to handle deportation nor is that within his arm of the law. He continued the case to March 17th to give the woman time to get a license. She also could not afford to pay the fine of $107 so she had 60 days to come up with the money to pay the fine. Now being illegal will she be able to get a Driver's License by March 17th? So then what happens?
Probably another fine. Another fine that she can't pay.
There were a few similar cases...2 DUI's that had blown a .17 and .2 respectively, and then we were down to the last three...."Rebecca Levinson" and then I was up to bat. The judge looked at the paper in front of him, apologized that I was waiting for a headlight charge, I showed him my receipt from the car repair shop and he dismissed my ticket (It was a $70 fine).
It was 5:55 p.m. and my daughter had to be at school before her band performance at 6 p.m. I got home, loaded my three children into the car and I got my daughter to school by 6:10 p.m. Luckily her performance didn't actually start 'til 7 p.m. and attendance was so high and the venue chosen, the middle school, so small, that I and my two young boys along with several other families had to stand.
Last night my Southeastern Wisconsin Municipal Court Experience was enlightening in many different ways. One thing that stands out in my mind the most is that our system is truly clogged.
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