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Not All Tickets Are Created Equal

We're going to take a look at a couple of common scenarios, but let's first consider the various permutations.

The officer who pulled you over might have been:

  • State police/trooper
  • County sheriff/deputy
  • City police
  • Other peace officer
  • None of the above

That officer might have been driving:

  • In a clearly-marked police car, truck, van, boat, helicopter, etc.
  • In a stealth/unmarked police car, truck, van, boat, helicopter, etc.
  • On a motorcycle
  • On a bicycle
  • None of the above — on foot

The location where you were pulled over might have been:

  • Inside the city limits
  • Near city limits (see ETJ)
  • Well beyond city limits
  • Floating near the shore
  • Open international waters

The officer(s) who approached you might have been:

  • In full uniform, including one or more deadly weapons visible
  • Wearing some potentially-fake-looking indicator of law enforcement, with a weapon visible (or printing)
  • Dressed in plain clothes, with no visible indication of law enforcement

The reason for the encounter, as articulated by the officer, might have been:

  • The officer allegedly caught you with some kind of license problem (TTC Subtitle A)
  • The officer allegedly caught you with your registration expired (TTC Subtitle B)
  • The officer allegedly caught you speeding, or some offense codified in TTC Subtitle C (§§541-600)
  • The officer allegedly caught you with your insurance expired (TTC Subtitle D)
  • None of the above

Prior to this encounter, you might have been:

  • Moving, in motorized equipment (car, truck, motorcycle, boat, etc)
  • Moving, on non-motorized equipment (bicycle, skateboard or similar)
  • Not moving, just sitting still, in or on your equipment
  • None of the above: on foot or swimming, without equipment that could be used for transportation

At the time of the encounter, you might have been engaged in:

  • The conditional privilege of extraordinary use of the people's roadways as a place of business — the regulated commercial activity of transportation
  • The exercise of your right to use the roadways that we the people own, for their ordinary use: simply attending to your own private and family affairs

At the time of the encounter, you might have been displaying:

  • All the typical license plates, decals and windshield stickers: current
  • All the typical license plates, decals and windshield stickers: expired
  • Some non-typical license plates, decals or windshield stickers
  • Missing license plates, decals or windshield stickers

At the time of the encounter, you might have held:

  • A then-current transportation license (CDL level)
  • A then-current transportation license (Non-CDL level)
  • An expired transportation license (CDL level)
  • An expired transportation license (Non-CDL level)
  • A suspended transportation license (CDL level)
  • A suspended transportation license (Non-CDL level)
  • A transportation license from some other country, along with an IDP (international driving permit)
  • No government-issued transportation license at all

When you characterize the slip of paper handed to you, it might be:

  • Some kind of combination citation and complaint
  • A citation but no complaint
  • A warning only
  • None of the above; something else

When you look for the nature and cause of the alleged wrongdoing, you might see:

  • A state-level criminal offense
  • A county-level ordinance violation
  • A city-level ordinance violation
  • None of the above; something else

When you look for instructions about appearing, it might say:

  • You must be at the courthouse at exactly a certain date and time
  • You must be at the courthouse on or before a certain date and time
  • You may appear physically or in writing on or before a certain date and time
  • No appearance instructions

Pay Attention​

These are the kinds of things of which you should take a note, especially if you're going to be asking someone else for help or suggestions.

Many people are accustomed to getting the officer's "name and badge number", which really is not going to help much. If the officer behaved in a truly atrocious manner, you might want to talk with his supervisor about it, but in our experience, that goes nowhere anyway, and what ends up being more effective is simply reporting the facts related to his lawlessness, not his attitude.

Two wrongs do not make a right

Beware of falling into the all-too-common conflation of issues, subconsciously imagining that the accusation against you would be resolved by pointing out something the officer did wrong.

Mentally keep a good clean separation between the issues. You've been accused of X and Y. You need to deal with those accusations properly, even if you also find the need to hold your accuser accountable for Z; that's separate.

Help Others Help You​

Being attentive to the details outlined above will help you readily identify whether the officer broke the law, and in what way.

Also, if you reach out to others for some input and feedback, giving the above details as context will make it so much easier for them to quickly get up to speed so they can help you.

By the same token, if you find yourself in a position to be assisting your friend or neighbor, help them pay attention to these points above, and get clear on what's what.