Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Kudos to Paul K. Ogden

Paul K. Ogden, an attorney with the Indianapolis law firm Roberts & Bishop announced today that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of defendants who have appeared, or will appear, before the Marion County Traffic Court and Traffic Violations Court.

In the Complaint, three identified plaintiffs, Toshinao Ishii, Matthew Stone, and Adam Lenkowsky, allege that the courts violate the United States and Indiana Constitutions by punishing defendants who choose to have their day in court rather than simply pay the traffic or parking ticket they receive.

The Complaint alleges that Judge William E. Young of the Marion County Traffic Court fines defendants up to an additional $500 if they litigate their case and lose.

The Traffic Court website, according to lawsuit, threatens $10,000 fines. The complaint also cites a press release that City intends to authorize the new Parking Violations Court to fine defendants up to $2,500 if they challenge their parking tickets.

The lawsuit also notes that the Traffic Court’s additional practice of closing its courtroom to the public is unconstitutional.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's about time. They should also add in the lawsuit about safety belts if they don't pay the fine right away the price keeps going up, and up and up. Now someone I know fine is almost $300 for a $25 fine. This is just legalized extortion.