HomeFairfax General ForumArrest/Ticket SearchWiki newPictures/VideosChatArticlesLinksAbout
Fairfax County General :  Fairfax Underground fairfax underground logo
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: trogdor! ()
Date: August 01, 2007 11:07PM

Gotta love it. You can be illegal and living in VA, but you're immune from driver's fees. According to this article in the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/28/AR2007072800608.html, it looks like some of the first defnadant's lawyers are looking at the "Virginia resident" part of the law to get their client's off. This sentence says it all:

"David Bernhard, a defense lawyer in Fairfax, expects several offenders -- with help from their attorneys -- to argue that they are not legal Virginia residents. If they succeed, they won't be subject to the fees."

So they have a VA DL, but they're not "legal" Virginia residents. Who would have thought being illegal had this kind of benefit with the police???

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: cw ()
Date: August 01, 2007 11:20PM

Dont sweat it, chances are they would not have the kind of money it would take to hire Albo therefore who cares what they do?

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: gesoffen ()
Date: August 02, 2007 08:05AM

> So they have a VA DL, but they're not "legal"
> Virginia residents. Who would have thought being
> illegal had this kind of benefit with the
> police???

LOL - this ought to make the "illegal" issue hit a sore spot! BTW, these fines have NOTHING to do with the police or the court system (justice branch) - it has everything to do with the DMV (and the legislative system that enacted the fines). The DMV is the one who will mail you the bill and hunt your a$$ down if you don't pay up. Of course, when you license gets suspended for not paying your DMV fines, then the police will be involved in the hunt too!

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: Fairfax MF---er ()
Date: August 02, 2007 09:34AM

Screw impeaching Albo. You want action, we need to start an Impeach Tim Kaine drive. He's the one who can call a special session.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: bdimag ()
Date: August 02, 2007 10:13AM

let them argue that their not legal VA residents... then let the judge suspend their illegal license indefinately.. and then charge them for falsifying information..

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: allivant ()
Date: August 03, 2007 07:54AM

i've heard that cops wouldn't even bother ticketing them because they wouldn't pay anyway.

vaburbia.com

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: Tia2 ()
Date: August 03, 2007 09:15AM

Today on the news, the first court case decided that the VA Resident did not have to pay the civil fines as it was unconstitutional given that NON Residents don't have to pay...

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: Lurker. ()
Date: August 03, 2007 09:38AM

"Oh, you're from out of state? Sorry I pulled you over, have a nice day!"

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: bdimag ()
Date: August 03, 2007 10:01AM

Lurker. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Oh, you're from out of state? Sorry I pulled you
> over, have a nice day!"

speaking of that.. DAMNIT! i loose my 30-day temp tags from PA tomorrow :(

oooo they gonna get me gooood! :(

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: Gravis ()
Date: August 04, 2007 06:36PM

i think in another thread, someone pointed out there is a special clause to cover the issue of illegal aliens. besides, if they prove they are illegal aliens, wouldnt they just be arrested?


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."095042938540

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: trogdor! ()
Date: October 01, 2007 12:57AM

What did I tell you?

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1258851

"WASHINGTON - A recent court decision from Prince William County found another loop hole in the driver abuse laws for out-of-state drivers.

A University of Northern Virginia student convicted with a DWI was spared the $2,250 fee. He had a valid Virginia driver's license and a Virginia address, but he is on a student visa from India. Judge Craig Johnston has ruled that he is not a permanent resident. Therefore, he is not a resident of Virginia, and not subject to the driver abuse fees."

Is an illegal alien a "permanent resident" of Virginia? I think not.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: bdimag ()
Date: October 01, 2007 10:53AM

well hooray for god damn India..

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: Virginia Resident ()
Date: October 01, 2007 11:45AM

Guess what? I'm exempt from the fees as well and I am a permanent resident of Virginia. Want to know why? Because I don't drive around like a fool committing felonies and misdemeanors! Most drivers, even Virginia residents, would be exempt as well if they just paid attention drove within the law.

Options: ReplyQuote
Re: Guess what? Illegal alliens are probably exempt from the new traffic fees
Posted by: Virginia Citizen ()
Date: October 01, 2007 12:16PM

Virginia Resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Guess what? I'm exempt from the fees as well and
> I am a permanent resident of Virginia. Want to
> know why? Because I don't drive around like a
> fool committing felonies and misdemeanors! Most
> drivers, even Virginia residents, would be exempt
> as well if they just paid attention drove within
> the law.

Guess what else? Now the State of Virginia has a financial incentive to encourage people to run afoul of the law. We've seen this before on a smaller scale, where small towns derive lots of revenue from speed traps. And we've seen the abuse that results.

I'm not very sympathetic to the argument that this only applies to those fools committing felonies and misdemeanors. Take a look at section 46.2-852 of the Virginia code. It says, "Irrespective of the maximum speeds permitted by law, any person who drives a vehicle on any highway recklessly or at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person shall be guilty of reckless driving."

That's pretty broad language. Yes, it applies to a lot of idiotic behavior. It also applies in the case of most traffic accidents. And with a little creativity, it could be applied to even more mundane cases.

Or take a look at section 46.2-860 and 46.2-863, which allow reckless driving charges for failure to use a turn signal and failure to yield the right-of-way. While I'm not fond of people who change lanes without using their turn signals, I'm not sure this rises to the level of a $1,000+ penalty. I'm aware that these things aren't routinely charged as reckless driving, but the potential has always been there. And now that these huge "fees" are in place, the incentive to do so is there too.

It would be another story entirely if the legislature raised the allowable fine for reckless driving; this would permit a judge the discretion to fine the real idiots severely without a lot of collateral damage inflicted upon those who made much smaller mistakes. But that's different from idea of a fee that's explicitly designed raise revenue and to be exempt from judicial review. To me, this kind of lawmaking suggests that our legislature is beginning to think of us more as subjects than citizens.

Options: ReplyQuote


Your Name: 
Your Email (Optional): 
Subject: 
Attach a file
  • No file can be larger than 75 MB
  • All files together cannot be larger than 300 MB
  • 30 more file(s) can be attached to this message
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
 ********  **     **  ********   ********   **    ** 
    **     **     **  **     **  **     **  **   **  
    **     **     **  **     **  **     **  **  **   
    **     *********  **     **  **     **  *****    
    **     **     **  **     **  **     **  **  **   
    **     **     **  **     **  **     **  **   **  
    **     **     **  ********   ********   **    ** 
This forum powered by Phorum.