TWITTER: Obvious in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

I don’t like frequent criminals. That is an obvious thing. I just… I don’t. If you are going to break the law regularly (I don’t care if that means you drive 30 mph over the speed limit every day or if it means you smoke crack every day) if you are regularly going to break the law… you already annoy me.

Every day, I get phone calls about why a person shouldn’t be found responsible for their actions. And it isn’t mental health, or disability… it is stuff like “The accident wasn’t my fault. I didn’t know I couldn’t make a U Turn there.” Well… did you know you can’t turn in front of an oncoming vehicle that had right of way? Cuz… yeah. Or… my favorite because it happens every week: “I shouldn’t have to pay that ticket. We were going to work out a deal.” Yeah… I said I’d look into it. The officer then told me that you were going 100 mph in a 55 mph zone. He only wrote you a ticket for 65 in a 55. I’m not surprised that he wouldn’t sign off on a “deal”… you got a hell of a deal to begin with! Oh… so, because I said I’d look into a deal… and you decided that meant you shouldn’t come to court… you don’t think it’s fair that you were found Guilty in Absentia?

It is not my job to hold your hand when you act stupid. It is my job to balance the needs of the community with the needs of justice. If you can’t make it to a hearing… and you continually refuse to appear for hearings… I’m not going to make special exceptions for your absentee ass. This County… everyone thinks they are an exception… that they are special… and in a lot of ways… they have been before I got here. Family CA13 is the biggest family in the county… we are this county… yeah? Well, 35% of you have been arrested on drug charges this year and the other 65% have been flagrantly disobeying any and all traffic laws. I don’t care if people were ignoring it last year… this year, you’re dealing with an Attorney that works with the law, not tries to re-write the law.
You were driving 100 mph in a 55 mph zone with 3 children who were not wearing their safety belts. I get it… you think “small town, big family, who is going to care?” Well… lets just say I have a good imagination for Worst Case Scenario.... and 100 mph… nearly double the speed limit… with 3 children not buckled up.... it isn’t too hard for me to imagine someone losing control of their vehicle and now having 3 dead kids. I’m sorry that we pulled you over and I’m sorry you thought my “attempts at a deal” meant you didn’t have to appear in court. But… why do people constantly believe that they shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions? No… I suppose it is true that nobody got hurt. But… do you really think that we should be required to wait for that harm? Do you honestly want a world where, instead of a $200 ticket… you have to bury 3 of your children? Or are you claiming that you are such a spectacular driver, the worst case would never happen? Are you claiming that… the real worst case… you’d be able to “sense” if a drunk driver was on the road, so there would never be a time where someone else struck your vehicle and (due to your speed and children’s lack of seat belts) sent your kids flying through the windshield?

It bothers me. I’m sympathetic to people too poor to pay fines. I’m sympathetic to people with mental illness or disability. But arrogance? Lack of forethought? Lack of concern? I have no sympathy for that. And this county has been sympathetic to that for too long. A woman whose home is THE methamphetamine hub for the county… child protective services refuses to remove the kids. Because CPS doesn’t see how her selling meth could negatively impact the children. Because as long as she sells in her bedroom upstairs, and the children stay downstairs… what’s the harm?

Fucking… ridiculous how lenient this place is.