Indianapolis declares it a fineable offence to plead not guilty in traffic court.
Judges can fine you up to 2,500 just for pleading not guilty. The idea being they want you to just pay the fine and not demand your day in court.”Unfortunately what you have happen a lot of times is that judges aren’t particularly worried about whether what they’re doing may be violating the law as the odds of someone ever appealing a $400 traffic ticket is remote,” Ogden wrote. “I see it all the time. Trial judges flouting the law knowing they are unlikely to ever be challenged on an appeal because the litigants can’t afford it.” Original story here. All I can say is at least the city of Indianapolis is admitting to being thieves, by abridging peoples due process rights but thats small comfort to those who have had their rights violated and their wallets thinned, for years now the courts (especially traffic courts) have become little more than a undeclared road tax ready to fine everyone for using the road. Maybe there is a solution but that’s for another post.