Hot Dog; Off Topic: Parking Violations "Policy Change"

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Today, in the CITY section of the 6-16-2002 Sunday NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 7, col. 1, is an article about "LA LUPE WAY."  La Lupe, the singer famous in the 1960s and 1970s, lived on that stretch of East 140th Street from 1986-1992.  The past and present borough presidents of the Bronx were in attendance.
   When I wrote to the borough president...
   A little "irony" posting today, mostly off topic.

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HOT DOG

   "Hot dog" is wrong, again, this time in the YORK DAILY RECORD, available on the Dow Jones news database, 6-8-2002, "Well, hot dog, what do you know?"
   The newspaper couldn't even get the wrong information right:

   His name was Thomas A. Morgan, who signed his cartoons "Tad."

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OFF TOPIC: PARKING VIOLATIONS "POLICY CHANGE"

   On Friday, through the judge grapevine, I was told of a "Parking Violations Policy Change."  I copied the 6-7-2002 memo--which I still haven't received in the mail.  I have not been told of this "policy change" by any Parking official, and I haven't seen it posted anywhere in the help centers.
   It looks like any other memo.  It could be about any boring thing we receive--like the issuance of "Birthplace of Baseball" license plates.  But actually, it has to do with how we handle fundamental due process.  I've explained parts of this here before (and off-list to Dave Wilton), but here's the story.
   Judges always ask for a vehicle registration, and had dismissed tickets upon knowledge of material defects.  Wrong make, wrong plate type, no date.  Dismissed automatically.  (A simple computer program could also do this, but it's not a priority.)
   One consumer-oriented legislator put this into law in 1995.  If there's a defect and it's raised, the ticket is dismissed.
   Later in 1995, at a judge meeting, judges were "instructed" by the agency (not our employers, by the way; we're "independent contractors" who get no benefits) that the dismissals are no longer automatic.  The law says "if raised."  People who get tickets--many who speak Spanish or other languages--must _specifically_ raise a defect under Vehicle and Traffic Law section 238 subdivision 2-a (b).
   Hey, good luck with that.
   Soon after that, when my work was reviewed, I was told that I didn't write enough on a dismissal.  I had to specifically write if the respondent had raised the issue, or if I raised it myself because I considered the ticket really, really bad anyway.  And I said, hey, let's get real, THIS TICKET HAS NO DATE!  How much do you want me to write?  If the person doesn't notice it, we enforce it????
   Several times in the past year, a particular senior judge warned me about dismissing too many legally defective tickets.
   From the memo:

"The Department's prior application of the statute may have resulted in different outcomes depending on whether the respondent was experienced in the adjudication process..."

   No kidding.
   Obviously, this was done under pressure--what pressure, I don't know.  As usual, the officials who knowingly misapplied the law and told us to take unfair advantage of society's weakest people will not be disbarred or punished in any way.
   This should be a scandal.  But this is New York City.  It won't be reported at all.  The local tv news will do promos for "Scooby Doo."  The print news will tell us about Jennifer Lopez's love life.  And both will do cute stories about pets.