A traffic ticket is not a criminal violation(except dui,hit and run); this is so widespread across the world; is it wrong yes, unless they received something of value, the only violation is maleficence in office.

...only violation is maleficence in office.

Shame on you!!

That statement was dumb. Corruption is what makes 3rd world countries what they are. Corrupt government is the worst thing in the World.

Philadelphia ward leaders and Democratic City Committee associates, along with family and friends, regularly contacted the judges to seek help with traffic tickets. Judges would trade favors if the case wasn't assigned to them and would either dismiss or reduce the ticket, helping people avoid steep fines and points on their licenses, authorities charged.

Uhhhhhh, Progressives do no wrong.....just ask them.

In most places traffic court is simply a money making machine designed to pump dollars into the local coffers. It has nothing to do with justice or public safety. It is yet another scam. No wonder the 'judges' did what they could to game this racket to their own benefit.

I grew up in a small town ran by republicans, it's the same everywhere folks...

big city, little city...the same corruption exists.

POWER CORRUPTS

democrat, republican, neither...all capable of behaving corruptly, and they do.

grow up kids.

Now clean the vermin out of the Supreme court and the rest of the ideological far right courts in this land

Saxon

Traffic tickets may not be criminal violations in Pennsylvania, but they sure are misdemeanors in Georgia (even stuff like improperly working headlights and seatbelt tickets). Plea deals are common. People get the speed reduced on tickets to avoid points all of the time here. Some courts completely dismiss tickets when the issuing officer is not in court on the day the defendant appears. Stuff like that is status quo in Georgia. It does have its drawbacks though: Since they are criminal offenses, people unable to pay tickets are placed on probation and have to pay monthly probation fees (usually to some private company who has a contract with that particular county or city) in excess of $50 in addition to paying down the fine. If they can't pay and don't report, they can be sent to jail for up to a year.

The lawyer has some nerve saying his client never took a dime. I guess he does not consider receiving freebies like free repair services on his car as being something of value. What is received does not need to be cash for it to be a bribe. Receiving anything of value in return for a decision is taking a bribe and these judges should go to prison for receiving bribes and those who gave them the gifts should be put in prison for bribery as well. Just because the person who came before you did something illegal does not mean that you can do it without penalty. These judges knew full well that what they were doing was wrong and corrupt. Just because that corruption was institutionalized does not excuse their actions. Throw them all in prison and take away their pensions. None of this nonsense of plea deals where they are allowed to pay a fine and quietly retire with their public pensions intact. They essentially stole from the public by allowing their friends to get away without paying their tickets, so take the money back by yanking their pensions.

Here's hoping you never visit Chicago. Or Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania is a great place to be connected or famous. Not only Phila but even here in Bethlehem, where, a couple of weeks ago REX RYAN the JETS COACH, blew through a red light at high speed (by his own admission and the statements of a bunch of witnesses) and caused a three-car smashup. And what, you may want to know, happened to REX RYAN? HE GOT A WRITTEN WARNING FROM THE CORRUPT AND INCOMPETENT BETHLEHEM POLICE. Honest to dog, I'm not making this up.

No one should be surprised by anything that happens in the PA legal system, seeing as how it's rotten from the head on down. The "Supreme Court" here is populated by political rejects whose mission in life is lining the pockets of themselves and their politically-connected friends. Such as all those newly-minted "casino" operators. You can look it up.

the city of philadelphia is a city that rob from the people, and looking at it, they are suppose to be fair and treat every citizen with respect, but instead they are crooks, shame on all of you philadelphia, is this what you call the city of brotherly love!!!!!!!! stealing from the people.........

Can you imagine if they took all the guns...............it would be............TYRANNY, Carte blanche to do whatever TPTB would want to do to US. It's a giant fraud.

"Defense attorneys suggested that the judges made no money from the favors and that the court has worked that way for a century."

It is okay the nine judges are all running for Congress and just needed a little practice in "how things are done around here".

Next

GeneralEclectic

Pennsylvania is a great place to be connected or famous.

==========================================

do you honestly think it is different anywhere else? Just look at the majority of those breaking the speeding laws, frequently excessively, they are mostly driving the very expensive vehicles, they have money, and they know they can buy their way out of any traffic ticket, if they even get one in the first place, one cop I know says it isn't worth his time to write one to these types because they will just get off any way. To paraphrase Mel Brooks in History of the World - Part One, "It's good to be rich"!

At least in the PA juvenile court judge scandal, heads rolled..."2011 Pennsylvania judge was sentenced Thursday for his part in what prosecutors called a 'kids for cash' scheme that sent juvenile offenders to privately run detention facilities in return for kickbacks."... The wastes of space in the current article need to be more than fired.

The Winkie Gov Walker of WI just took state funds to "FUND HIS DEFENCE FUND!!!" Dont ya just love the gnops!

The article is appreciated but this is like but one particle of sand from the Sahara Desert. Influence and money starts with our Congress (just about the whole of it) and it doesn't stop right don to the police!!! What's new??? Integrity still exists but it is rare anymore!

A crooked Judge??? Perish the thought.

One will soon run for President.

Excuse me! You don't have to pass the BAR to be a traffic court judge! WOW! I will be researching the credentials of any judge I go before, if I ever do.

Do you know what the letters in BAR stand for? You do know that if your a defendant that hires a bar association accredited lawyer that they are officers of the court and hold a higher allegiance to the court than to you as a defendant? The whole justice system is corrupt but in ways you probably don't understand.

I always try to give Philly a wide bearth.

I am especially disgusted at what the 'connected' people of Philadelphia did to the legacy of Albert C. Barnes. They had a judge break his 'unbreakable trust', and took $15 billion in artworks, doing what Barnes himself fought for decades to prevent.

How is this news? This happens in every town and city, it's practically a requirement as if it's a job perk in my exsperience. This has happened since Benjamin Franklin. It's human nature and it's why we should never ignore the voting system and should never become so lazy that we simply hand over the reins believing we citizens will be treated fairly and in our best interest.

Well, dip me in sh!t and call me a candy bar. The government is actually doing something about corruption. Granted, it's a century old conspiracy but at least they finally got around to tackling it. How about they start working on something a little bigger than ticket fixing now?

Yeah this doesnt happen in EVERY community in the country. No third world countries arent the corrupt ones, first world countries are and thats why we are first world and thats also why 3rd world are 3rd world, because corrupt pieces of @!$%# like the us keep them that way. And democrats? PLEASE, open your god damned eyes, biggest scandal ever under a democrat, slick willy got his dick sucked. Scandals under republicans? welll lets see, 9/11, kennedy assassination, watergate shall I go on dumb@!$%#s?

LiberalsRCommies

I believe that I do understand, but will allow you to correct me if I don't. In order to become a lawyer you must pass a test. That test is considered the BAR exam. If you do not pass that exam you should never be allowed to become a judge.

This article specifically stated that some of these judges were not even lawyers. Who in the hell ever gave single common citizens the right to judge others as if playing god. It has always supposed to have been trial by judge(that should be a lawyer at minimum), or by a jury, presided over by a judge(that should be a lawyer at minimum) My comment was about how some of these judges were not even lawyers, which means they never passed the test of law.

"Traffic Court is not worth saving,'' he declared.

Is it just me or have our beloved political parties given up on the rule of law? It used to be that America was the most loved nation in the world, now its the most hated. All because of what our government does around the world. Garbage in garbage out. We wont ever be able to convince the democrats to give up on their political party but we who were or are Republicans should flush this paper tiger down the toilet and build on its ashes. When the most conservative party cant or wont stand on principal then its all down hill from there.

is it wrong yes, unless they received something of value, the only violation is maleficence in office

I have never known anyone, in a position of some sort of authority, to not take something in return for their services. Infact the way I read the article, the one judge took somethings prior to be elected by his supporters. I doubt they did it out of the goodness of their hearts. Besides the article said the one judge did take things in return.

"It's been my experience that any little old lady in the suburbs ... can walk in to her local magistrate judge, and expect to get a reduction in her charge,'' said Singletary's lawyer, William J. Brennan. "I don't think that's fraud. It's just kind of the way it works.''

Someone should compare the number of violators who paid full pop (that unknown little old lady in the suburbs), as compared to the tickets thrown out or reduced (for family, friends and cohorts). Singletary's lawyer's nose may have grown a few inches.

What's unbelievable is the length of time this has been allowed to go on, while the regular folk continue to be prosecuted and the prisons fill.

This country should be ashamed of itself.

If they got things of value in exchange for "favors", then the IRS should be looking into this as well for tax evasion. Bring in the big dogs...

Even Al Capone tried to justify his actions. He said he was following the law of the jungle. The defense lawyers in this case make appalling arguments. This behavior has been going on for 100 years. Yes and murder has probably been around as long as man- but that doesn't make it okay. Did their mothers never tell them, "just because Bobby jumps off a bridge will you ?" They never took any money, only goods and services. Pleeeease. What do you think money represents ? They are desperate.

This isn't about red or blue, it's about green. Don't try to make a case that it's the dreaded 'liberals' while Republicans are all lilly white.

I've always voted mostly Democratic. I arrested my two young nieces within two weeks of each other for drinking under age in bars and having fake ID's. No special treatment. If you don't have integrity you don't have much. Family gatherings were tense for a couple of years.

Traffic tickets are not felonies, but lying, cheating, and stealing public funds are. The dismissal of charges and fines contrary to law are serious offences. Not only have they broken city, county, state, and federal statues concerning conduct and civil rights infractions, each count could be a year in jail. The arbitrary nature of dispensing justice is a Federal crime involving civil rights and equal treatment. All those people who have received or payed traffic fines or received points on license demand redress.

(1) : to set right : remedy <looked to charity, not to legislation, to redress social
wrongs — W. R. Inge> (2) : to make up for : compensate. b : to remove the cause ...

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redress

Come on, if they weren't doing this they would be the exception instead of the norm. We all know that there are a different set of laws for the elite and us peasants. The banksters get away with stealing and defrauding the globe of trillions and we cast our eyes on speeding tickets?

The international banking elite with tacit approval from Democrats and Republicans have given the world 1.4 Quadrillion in Derivatives fraud, the HSBC Drug Laundering fraud, the MF Global fraud, the PFG fraud, the High Frequency Trading pilfering and Stock Market fraud, the manipulation of the Precious Metals and Bond Market fraud, the MERS mortgage fraud, nearly countless individual frauds from both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and the international 800 Trillion LIBOR Interest Rate Fixing banking fraud, just to name but a few recent FRAUDS and breaches of Bankster credibility and trustworthiness.

Justice is just that if your the elite (Just Us).

Since these so call Judges of the law were suppose to enforce the law with penalties..they are above the standard punishment then for this and should be punished double for the crimes they did.

Old sayin..what comes around goes around! KARMA BABY!

dongwork4yuda

Now clean the vermin out of the Supreme court and the rest of the ideological far right courts in this land #1.7

I guess you weren't paying attention.

Philadelphia ward leaders and Democratic City Committee associates, along with family and friends, regularly contacted the judges to seek help with traffic tickets. Judges would trade favors if the case wasn't assigned to them and would either dismiss or reduce the ticket, helping people avoid steep fines and points on their licenses, authorities charged.

These were DEMOCRATS, but yeah I'd go along with cleaning the vermin our to the SCOTUS, there isn't a single one that can read the Constitution the way it was intended.

The original idea was if it wasn't in the Constitution, they were to kick it back to the People, and get an Amendment. Not fudge it to fit. Like Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, the PPACA and several other major things.

Power corrupts and a lack of punishment to those that abuse power does nothing to solve the problem. The courts may have worked that way for over a century, as the defense attorneys state, but that doesn't mean it's right. I'm glad these judges were arrested. The laws that apply to the common folk should be the same laws for those in power, if not stricter for them. Shame on them.

These judges and their cronies are small potatoes. They are just the tip of the mountain of corruption in our legal system. Their lawyers think it's unfair that they should be punished for following the rules of a system that has existed for more than a hundred years. Yet, they all kept it quiet. Only their friends, associates and political supporters were able to benefit. If it was so time honored and acceptable why did they feel it necessary to hide it? Because it is blatant injustice, and completely contrary to the oath of office which they swore to uphold! These guys are crooks, pure and simple. They should be treated like crooks and punished for their misdeeds. As should all the crooked lawyers, judges, politicians and corrupt public servants who get caught with their hands dirty.

@ Lyrica & Fyte4Justice

You are absolutely correct "Power Corrupts", and the Founding Fathers knew this. Thus the 2nd Amendment.

And the Liberals call us nuts, (or at least gun-nuts) for believing that the Federal Government could ever become like this.

And the corruption is not just in the legal system, it is all through the Government, and its bureaucracies. The old adage, "That's the way we have always done it" is spoken quite frequently in the hallowed halls of Government. Isn't that their defense here?

fyte4 is exactly right. indeed, pennsylvania traffic courts are rife with corruption. what is not recognized in this article, however, is that traffic court corruption in that state is t-ball league. the major league corruption and theft is reserved fot pennsylvania's domestic relations courts , and court-protected bar.

GM Windancer

Yep and it is not limited to traffic court. There era of no responsibility and no accountability for ones actions is upon us.

The only way a judge loses his bench around here is before a panel of three other judges. think of your circle of friends, what would happen to you? same thing that will happen here.

Good morning I.A.ScooterTramp! :-D agree with your comment! Amen. Exchanging a ticket for favors like engine work,meals,and other material goods, is no different then getting cash. Either way, they profited from showing favoritism.

I wonder how the good ole citizens feel knowing those judges were doing that? I have no doubt they knew something was up. You don't exactly keep that sort of thing quiet for very long. I image the cops in some cases wrote the tickets, then wondered why they got dismissed. Or some cops didn't write tickets. But not all the cops were on the take either way. Must have been quite frustrating. I know I learned early not to show favorites in the military. First ticket I wrote as an Military Police officer was to the Commander of the Base

There have been numerous attempts in the past to clean up the bovious and blatant corruption in Phila Traffic Court. A lawyer for one of the defendants claiming that this has always happened doesn't make it a fact. He is simply trying to garner public sympathy. It won't work. Who cares if they got away with it before?

anyone notice that this isnt on msn's front page , but oprah gettin hurt liftin gift has been front page for 2-3 days , wonder y

..

Happens all over Texas - I got a ticket dismissed once because my mom had dated the judge in high school

I was given a pass for running a red light as a teenager because I had the same obscure last name as some police officer on the force. He asked if we were related, and I said, "I think he and my Dad go way back." He didn't even give me a written warning...just told me, "Well, watch those red lights."

Massachusetts is all about the wink and a nod. The stories I could tell,.... also true in small claims.

I was told by a retired state trooper "as long as you stay around 78 they wont pull you over, 79 and up, they will"...

and to this day, that has held true.

I was also told by a security guard who's got in's with the local police dept - watch your speed (even under 78) on the final days of the month, the police and troopers are trying to meet their quota's for the month.

and that has held true too...I see a lot more cops sitting on the sides of the highways the final 3-4 days of every month.

you see, favoritism is one thing...but the people we put in place to uphold the laws, should be required to uphold the laws. but they dont.

because no one is holding THEM accountable, there is no oversight.

we reap what we sow

Police son-in-law insists there are no quotas but the town I live in gives awards to the cop who writes the most tickets. They announce the award winner in the newspaper.

OMG !! (here is my 'shock' face) Here?? Corruption?? Can you say Congress boys and girls???

President Obama's uncle facing deportation

agreed personal responsibility and ethical behavior are way, way overrated.

maybe they're working, like you should be?

seems to be a lot of unemployed republicans on here...kinda pathetic.

There are a lot of us worked hard and retired miss sweety pants!

Kinda makes your statement pathetic, don't it!LOL

jessica , im retired , having done my bit , not only working since i was 14 , but also 4 yrs in usmc , anything else youd like to say? I also raised 5 children & sister in laws 3 children , have 12 granchildren that i have to some degree every weekend & continue to care for a 29 yr old handicapped daughter that cant walk or talk , shes my youngest child & i carry her to tub for baths (too heavy for my wife) i change diapers of diarhea & menstrual messes & i feed her , this is my retirement . i suppose i could go out & get a part time job so obama has some more spending money....... naaaaa

Local judges tend to be elected officials, as is in this case.

So elected officials can be wrongfully elected evidently. Just because you have a bunch of people vote for you does not make you right.

Your knowledge of what really happens in Philly isn't very extensive. This is news because they actually arrested these snakes and exposed them. Corruption isn't expected or acceptable anywhere...

NB820---Touche

You forgot Septic Tank.