By William Graf
The Daily Cardinal
I recently had a very disturbing incident at the Madison Municipal Court receiving an underage possession and consumption ticket when my roomates and I hosted a party and the police showed up. We cooperated and answered their questions. The police officer came back a week and a half later, giving us citations for underage possession/consumption. None of us had open containers, nor were any of us breathalyzed.
I am not upset that I had to pay a fine, but I am upset that when I chose to exercise my constitutional rights, I was strongly encouraged by the court system to pay the ticket and let it go. I felt as if the court did everything in its power to deny me my right to due process.
Upon arriving in court, I pleaded not guilty. I talked to a city attorney and told her my side of the story. She responded by telling me the other tickets I could have received the night of my citation. I told her that I did not get those tickets and would like to talk about this one. I was then told if I chose to take the case to trial, the officer who issued the citation would show up and use her expert opinion"" as evidence for the citation to be upheld. I explained to the city attorney if I knew at the time that I was being issued a ticket, I would have asked for a blood test and denied that I had been drinking that night. She said she would not throw out the ticket and I could still go to trial, but if I went to trial and the citation was upheld the judge would be inclined to give me the maximum $298 fine due to the other tickets that I could have received the night of my citation.
I gave in and paid the $172. They forced me out of the system because they know that a college student doesn't have enough time or money to fight a bogus charge, and they don't take college students seriously. After speaking with a number of UW-Madison students, whom all had the same or similar experiences to the one that I had, I do not believe this to be an isolated incident.
The message is loud and clear. Do not go to the Madison Municipal Court, they have no interest in hearing your case. They would like you to pay your ticket and move on as quickly and quietly as possible. By showing up you only risk more severe punishment. The court exists only because it legally has to, not to uphold the spirit of the law. At least not for UW Madison Students.
William Graf is a sophomore who is undecided. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
