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The Louisiana Town Where a Traffic Stop Can Lead to One Charge After Another (www.propublica.org)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The city of Gretna, Louisiana, in the shadow of New Orleans, brings in more money through fines and related fees than some larger cities in the state. An investigation by WVUE-TV and ProPublica shows that much of that money comes from drivers who rack up multiple violations and hefty fines.

Defendants in Gretna’s mayor’s court, a unique justice system found only in Louisiana and Ohio, are charged with more violations — and face greater fines as a result — than those in seven other cities and towns we looked at. Many of those charges in Gretna are for nonmoving violations such as an expired license plate or vehicle inspection sticker.

And if a defendant misses a payment and doesn’t come to court to explain why, the court often adds a contempt charge, with an additional $150 fine. About half of Gretna’s cases over a three-year period included contempt charges.

A city representative said that officers charge people with violations only when they have probable cause, and that such fines deter motorists from breaking the law. A former New Orleans police chief, however, said cities can get people to follow the law without issuing lots of tickets.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

These types of towns use dirty tactics to catch people, like going from 75mph to 45mph without warning, often at the bottom of a hill or without enough time to properly slow down without hitting your brakes.

There are many states without absolute speed limits. This means a speeding ticket is really an 'unsafe speed' ticket, and you can get out of it if you can argue the speed was safe for the road conditions, even if you fully admit to exceeding the posted limit. It's also what allows cops to issue warnings instead of citations.

These towns basically exist to create situations where they can write citations for things that could easily be beaten in court. Their hope is that the people won't return to the town to fight it.

It's not very different from highway robbery.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

"These types of towns use dirty tactics to catch people, like going from 75mph to 45mph without warning, often at the bottom of a hill or without enough time to properly slow down without hitting your brakes."

I would wager there is no location like that in Gretna. Louisiana has speed zone ahead signs. It seems like they are specifically going for expired registration type items. Even the expressway has a steady speed limit through Gretna. I think the worst part about all of this is the "contempt" fee.

My brake tag is expired. I will be avoiding Gretna.