Fenton, population 226, brings in over $1 million per year through its mayor’s court, an unusual justice system in which the mayor can serve as judge even though he’s responsible for town finances.
Fenton, population 226, brings in over $1 million per year through its mayor’s court, an unusual justice system in which the mayor can serve as judge even though he’s responsible for town finances.
the most expedient solution would be to drive nowhere near Fenton, LA
This is impossible. You have no choice but to drive through Fenton to get to lake Charles without at least an hour detour through moss bluff. I live in this area and my in-laws live in Fenton (it’s bigger than it seems. The town itself is small but the surrounding area has lots of home. A lot more than 225 people in the town too.) You just don’t speed. You get a warning sign about it changing to 50. Go 50. I used to pick up my buddy in kinder, one town over heading to lake Charles for work, and we would wait to light the blunt till we passed though.
I’ve seen this movie. Stars dan Aykroyd and John candy.
Nothing But Trouble is the movie for those curious.
Great movie, great actors.
Or just not break the speed limit?
I get the concerns about possible corruption (though the article didn’t show us anything in this regard), but I’m like what’s the problem? If you break the law you get a fine. I’d be more concerned about the paces where you don’t!
“Yeah, I clocked you going 20 over”
“But I was driving the speed limit”
“Take it up with the judge”
—Later—
“You were going 20 over, pay at the desk”
“But I was going the speed limit!”
“Got any proof?”
“No?”
“Then go pay at the desk”
More like “you were going 1 mph over, the law’s the law”
Speed trap towns aren’t reasonable. That’s the point.
No way they will be satisfied with the fine for 1mph over, they are going to crank that fine up as high as they can get away with. Which sounds like a lot.
Still, going 1mph over is usually a bit less expensive of a ticket than going 20mph over is. One is a speeding ticket. The other is typically a reckless driving ticket.
The article said they only write tickets for going more than 61mph in a 50mph zone. That’s 20% over, 44% longer brake distance if there is an accident and more noise for the people living nearby.
If this happens it will be a scandal. The article only showed cases of:
“Yeah, I clocked you going 20 over”
“I’ did, but will still fight the ticket in court”
“Take it up with the judge”
“You were going 20 over, pay at the desk”
“All right, I actually did driver too fast. But it’s not fair!!!”
“Alright, go pay at the desk”
So I’ll wait until someone can actually show that evidence is faked and people are sentenced without due process, violating the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”. Because what the article showed were a lot of people who broke traffic laws, but none who were bribed or who sentenced people to fines without evidence.
I’m sure the only people getting ticketed are ones who have genuinely broken the law. There is no conflict of interest here at all.
If you have any proof on the contrary I’d like to hear it. Because the article didn’t provide any.
I live in Louisiana. Fenton is what’s known here as a speed trap town.
Except for the i-10, every major highway in LA has these. The trick is that the average speed limit on these highways is around 60 or 70, and then it drops to 30 or 40 for a mile stretch where cops are waiting for you just after the sign.
If you missed the sign or haven’t slowed down sufficiently by the time you reach it, they pull you over and write you a ticket for ~$600. I got one of these in 2018 for the latter reason.
It’s not just about obeying the speed limit. You can follow the speed limit to the letter and miss one sign on accident. It actually is a trap. It’s a main source of income for the small towns along the highways of LA.