Civil traffic infractions
Jun. 5th, 2026 04:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtbcI had been bothered by the silly traffic stop in Florida recently in which a police officer was rather too eager to push a case against a driver for using a cellphone in a hand that the driver didn't physically have.
What particularly bothered me is that I hadn't realized that there is this category of civil offenses where the state merely needs to push the burden beyond more likely than not and that
Had the driver been bearing the usual number of hands, the cop clearly thought that there would have been a decent case without, as far as I am aware, any further evidence whatever. That really doesn't sit well with me as being an attribute of a society I'd want to live in. I would love to imagine that, before the case goes further, they first check cellphone records or somesuch for corroboration but I rather fear that's wishful thinking.
What particularly bothered me is that I hadn't realized that there is this category of civil offenses where the state merely needs to push the burden beyond more likely than not and that
a cop said they thought sois taken as fine, even sufficient, evidence, despite that it's probably rather better for them professionally if they don't usually come back from a shift not having issued any tickets. One could easily end up with deleterious history on one's driving record if one is not
luckyenough to be missing body parts?
Had the driver been bearing the usual number of hands, the cop clearly thought that there would have been a decent case without, as far as I am aware, any further evidence whatever. That really doesn't sit well with me as being an attribute of a society I'd want to live in. I would love to imagine that, before the case goes further, they first check cellphone records or somesuch for corroboration but I rather fear that's wishful thinking.
