Nicko
2008-03-11 23:17:00 UTC
It used to be, when you got a traffic ticket in Chicago, the cop would
not only take your license, but when the license went "into the
system" and you eventually went to court to contest the ticket, it
would be stapled to a copy of the citation.
So, effectively, anyone looking at your license could tell, by
counting the staple holes, a bit about your recent driving history.
It's been maybe twenty years since I've had a traffic ticket, so I was
unaware that it's still standard practice to confiscate drivers
licenses for traffic tickets. Do they still staple them? I haven't
really thought about this issue since obviously I am such an
luck^h^h^h^h excellent driver and it's been so long since I've been
caug^h^h^h^h subject to a moving violation.
Anyway, the State of Illinois is now reconsidering this practice, as I
read in today's Trib:
http://tinyurl.com/3c8w4s
or
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/transportation/chi-license07mar07,1,3599105.story
passage from the article:
The practice of taking driver's licenses was established in Chicago in
the 1950s and later expanded statewide under the presumption that
holding a license hostage makes accused lawbreakers more likely to pay
their fines or come to court.
Protocols in other states vary widely. In Michigan, officers take
licenses of out-of-state drivers only. In Mississippi, police can take
driver's licenses of in-state residents but rarely do. Like many
states, Texas and Oregon take licenses only during drunken-driving
arrests. Few take it as a common first option, like Illinois.
"The process is outdated," said Logan County Circuit Clerk Carla
Bender. "The law and the Supreme Court rule need to catch up to
technology."
not only take your license, but when the license went "into the
system" and you eventually went to court to contest the ticket, it
would be stapled to a copy of the citation.
So, effectively, anyone looking at your license could tell, by
counting the staple holes, a bit about your recent driving history.
It's been maybe twenty years since I've had a traffic ticket, so I was
unaware that it's still standard practice to confiscate drivers
licenses for traffic tickets. Do they still staple them? I haven't
really thought about this issue since obviously I am such an
luck^h^h^h^h excellent driver and it's been so long since I've been
caug^h^h^h^h subject to a moving violation.
Anyway, the State of Illinois is now reconsidering this practice, as I
read in today's Trib:
http://tinyurl.com/3c8w4s
or
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/transportation/chi-license07mar07,1,3599105.story
passage from the article:
The practice of taking driver's licenses was established in Chicago in
the 1950s and later expanded statewide under the presumption that
holding a license hostage makes accused lawbreakers more likely to pay
their fines or come to court.
Protocols in other states vary widely. In Michigan, officers take
licenses of out-of-state drivers only. In Mississippi, police can take
driver's licenses of in-state residents but rarely do. Like many
states, Texas and Oregon take licenses only during drunken-driving
arrests. Few take it as a common first option, like Illinois.
"The process is outdated," said Logan County Circuit Clerk Carla
Bender. "The law and the Supreme Court rule need to catch up to
technology."