Man pay's $10 parking fine, writes "BULLSHIT MONEY GRAB" in memo section

[clevfan]

Check cursing may cost jail time

Unhappy with a $10 parking ticket in Berkley, man wrote swearword on check, now faces charges.

Jennifer Chambers and Joe Menard / The Detroit News
June 27

BERKLEY -- Robert Militzer saw the rectangular white parking ticket on his windshield and cursed.

When the time came to pay the $10 fine to Berkley District Court, Militzer grudgingly pulled out his checkbook. He scribbled his name, filled in the amount and -- in a moment of sheer spontaneous gratification -- penned a profane note for the court on the check's memo line:

"BULL---- MONEY GRAB"

Those three questionable words have turned a simple parking ticket with a nominal fine into a criminal charge and have raised questions about Militzer's right to free speech. The 38-year-old computer programmer will go before a judge Wednesday facing a criminal contempt of court charge, up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.

Militzer of Allen Park learned that things had taken a serious turn when two Allen Park cops knocked on his door June 8.

"They had badges and said I needed to appear here. They said, 'If you don't, we will have to come back and get you and bring you in.' ... I thought: They were putting all this time toward this minor scofflaw. I was shocked," Militzer said.

Militzer got the parking ticket May 29 after leaving his 1992 white Saturn parked on Oxford Street in front of a friend's home in Berkley where he had spent the night. He said he had not parked in the street in prior visits due to clearly posted signs that prohibit parking on city streets from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

But the day Militzer arrived at his friend's house, the signs were gone from the street, he said.

"They had come down ... and a day or two prior a friend had left a car in street overnight without a problem so my friend said, 'Leave it,'?" he said.

Seeing the ticket in the morning before he left for work, Militzer recalled being frustrated.

"I thought they were gaming me, collecting fines without giving people a fair chance to avoid it. If the sign had been there, I knew what the law was. I would take my lumps and move on," he said.

Militzer said he thought about fighting the ticket, then realized it would be more costly to take time off work than to pay the $10 fine. The decision was spur of the moment.

"It didn't solve anything. It let them know I felt they were being unfair. I paid it and forgot about it," he said.

On Wednesday, Militzer will appear before the court with attorney Elsa Shartsis of the American Civil Liberties Union, who said Militzer's speech is protected by the First Amendment.

"He has a right to express his opinion in this case, a legal process in which he is a party," Shartsis said. "His choice of words may not be the best, and it may offend some people, but it is not illegal."

Mike Zychowski, Berkley's court administrator, said a case like Militzer's is extremely rare.

Public Safety Director Richard Eshman said if Militzer had an issue with the ticket, he could have asked for a hearing on it.

"There's an avenue for protesting that kind of thing," Eshman said.

"That's a long-standing ordinance (no parking 2-6 a.m.). It's posted."

Judge William Sauer, who signed the motion, did not return a call seeking comment.

[old as dirt]

This is bullshit...how can you not have contempt for a system like this?

[Minnow]

Frickin' ridiculous, much like the Rush viagra deal.

The law needs to lighten up. My husband always does stuff like that himself, and always gets fined the max. I guess he actually thinks that by going to court to "fight it" he might actually get through to some jaded judge by saying *this is bullshit*, and it might finally dawn on the [img]i/expressions/light.gif[/img] judge [img]i/expressions/light.gif[/img] "hey, you are right.. that really was bullshit. Sorry to have inconvienced you."

It's not like the guy whipped out a weapon or screamed in court. Contempt of court.. ridiculous.

[Dominator]

BS

[The Actuary]

THey are such f'in extortionists-

Recently got a ticket with a street name that does not exist-

still had to blow off work to goto court to get it dismissed-a phone call was not enough.


They recently enacted new law here, if ticket writer is in the middle of writing the ticket and you return to the vehicle they must stop and toss it away-

I gte back to my car, woman writing a ticket, I asked her nicely to cease-

woman on her cell phone with her homies launches into a tirade about me interrupting her phone call-

my plate is now on the eligible to be booted list-in english means no f'in way I go into the city for jackshit, they can ram their hidden taxes up their ass.

[nino brown]

the memo is not disputing the ticket, just labeling what the check was for. someone should be canned for wasting the taxpayers money.

[The Major]

Good post Nino. Complete disregard for taxpayers money just because some pinhead got insulted (rightfully so I might add)

[clevfan]

Berkley parking ticket case dismissed
Judge says man must write new check, without profanity
By JULIE EDGAR
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

June 28, 2006

Rob Militzer didn't exactly apologize to a judge today for the profanity he scrawled on a personal check sent to the court earlier this month to cover a $10 parking ticket.

No, he simply said he regretted that the court took offense at the words "bullshit money grab" on the check and agreed to write a fresh check. In exchange, Berkley District Court Judge William Sauer said he'd dismiss the order asking Militzer to answer to contempt of court charges.

A case that was shaping up to be a fine test of freedom of speech rights sputtered out there and then, with Militzer, of Allen Park, stiffly walking out to the cashier's window at the courthouse in his dark blue suitcoat and tie accompanied by his American Civil Liberties Union attorney.

Elsa Shartsis, who filed a brief with the court this morning challenging the order for Militzer to answer to contempt of court charges, said she respected his decision.

"The law was on our side, but it was our client's choice" to drop the matter, Shartsis said.

Militzer, 38, received a ticket for parking illegally on Oxford Street on May 29. He maintained that there weren't signs prohibiting overnight parking but he didn't feel like taking time from his job as a computer programmer in Warren to fight the ticket. The check with the offending words was sent instead, and on June 8, two Allen Park police officers came to his door to serve him with Sauer's order.
While Militzer has said he's not much of a rebel and knew he'd probably acted in haste, he called the ACLU.

Today, Militzer wouldn't talk to the media, as per the instructions of Shartsis. But his dad, also named Robert Militzer, was happy to oblige the television and newspaper reporters who filled the seats in the small courtroom.

"He's a chip off the old block. I'm outspoken, too," said Militzer, a 63-year-old sales rep from Fenton. "I wish he'd restrained himself, obviously. I'm certainly glad it's over."

With that, he and his son made plans to meet for lunch at a nearby restaurant.

[JC]

He rolled. He should have fought it. There was nothing wrong with what he wrote.

[cerberus]

They wasted the time of two police officers to serve him papers. I think that most people think that this was a complete waste of time for everybody involved, but I don't think you really want to put your fate in the hands of the law unless you really have to.