ChipSeal update
ChipSeal posted this yesterday:
LINK
On Tuesday, March 9, Officer McCurdy arrested me. He did not tell me what law I had allegedly broken. After cooling my jets in the Ennis city jail for 26 hours, (10 AM Tuesday to just after 12:30 PM on Wednesday, according to my phone records.) I was keen to look at the citation to see what the particular charge was.
I was not given one....
...So Friday I stop at the court to file seven motions and plead not guilty to this charge. I ask the court clerk for my case number. She runs my case envelope through the copy machine. Here is what my case envelope says:
E0011786 01 100053359
Fin: 100.00 Cst: 94.00 Due: 194.00
BATES, REED
Officer: MCCURDY, JASON E
FAILURE TO KEEP BICYCLE ON RIGHT SIDE OFROAD
Violation Date: 3/9/2010
In another time and place, I'd find this absurdly humorous and worthy of the Marx brothers. But it seems like Reed is descending into a Kafkaesque nightmare. The law enforcement and legal system in Ennis is more on the order of Stalin's show trials. The end justifies the means, and the end is to get that pesky bicyclist off the road permanently.
This is not only wrong. It's against our American values of justice and fair play. The authorities in Ennis are using the legal system in an effort to curtail the rights of an American citizen.
In an ironic twist to this story, he was arrested once while returning from jury duty. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember that failure to appear for jury duty is grounds for arrest. So here you have a guy doing his civic duty, and he ends up in jail afterward. Again, it's absurd. This story has absurdity in abundance.
Bates is unemployed. He simply does not have the resources to fight this alone, so if you can, please donate to his defense at Let Him Ride!
LINK
On Tuesday, March 9, Officer McCurdy arrested me. He did not tell me what law I had allegedly broken. After cooling my jets in the Ennis city jail for 26 hours, (10 AM Tuesday to just after 12:30 PM on Wednesday, according to my phone records.) I was keen to look at the citation to see what the particular charge was.
I was not given one....
...So Friday I stop at the court to file seven motions and plead not guilty to this charge. I ask the court clerk for my case number. She runs my case envelope through the copy machine. Here is what my case envelope says:
E0011786 01 100053359
Fin: 100.00 Cst: 94.00 Due: 194.00
BATES, REED
Officer: MCCURDY, JASON E
FAILURE TO KEEP BICYCLE ON RIGHT SIDE OFROAD
Violation Date: 3/9/2010
In another time and place, I'd find this absurdly humorous and worthy of the Marx brothers. But it seems like Reed is descending into a Kafkaesque nightmare. The law enforcement and legal system in Ennis is more on the order of Stalin's show trials. The end justifies the means, and the end is to get that pesky bicyclist off the road permanently.
This is not only wrong. It's against our American values of justice and fair play. The authorities in Ennis are using the legal system in an effort to curtail the rights of an American citizen.
In an ironic twist to this story, he was arrested once while returning from jury duty. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember that failure to appear for jury duty is grounds for arrest. So here you have a guy doing his civic duty, and he ends up in jail afterward. Again, it's absurd. This story has absurdity in abundance.
Bates is unemployed. He simply does not have the resources to fight this alone, so if you can, please donate to his defense at Let Him Ride!
Labels: chipseal, ennis texas, kafka, reed bates
posted by Ed W at 9:06 AM
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