As if someone was reading my mind, I stumbled upon a damn good blog about the justice system here in Texas. As I read along, I discovered that this site is much more than my usual rants about probation and indigence – there are actually FACTS supporting the claims and the man who writes the blog, Scott Henson, is in a position to do something about the BS.
Perhaps you’ve heard of or fallen victim to the dreaded “Driver Responsibility Surcharge Program” here in Texas. Insurance companies and lawmakers have devised a plan to get every penny they can by charging people money for simple traffic violations and lack of insurance. The surcharges they impose after doing something they deem a “crime”, makes the police suddenly become involved, arresting people who don’t live up to their “financial responsibility” as drivers. This, they reason, should inspire drivers to keep everything current – and in a lot of cases, it does. However, there are many out there that can’t afford the surcharges, and their licenses are suspended. Getting pulled over subsequently leads to another arrest for driving with a suspended license, and that requires a surcharge as well. There is a vicious cycle going on, especially in these hard economic times.
I could not believe (but strangely, felt better) that more than 10% of Texans are currently wanted by police. Ten percent may not seem like much, but it’s a huge number of people – 78,000 in El Paso, for example. I can only imagine the Dallas population. This is an overcriminalization of the average citizens, and it shows a good example of why people are poor and angry… we’re the ones that are afraid to go to work, or go down to the store to get milk for our welfare cereal in the morning. This also makes us “criminals” in everyone’s eyes, and stunts chances for climbing social and economical ladders.
You’ll be hearing a lot more from the Grits for Breakfast blog. Frankly, I have no idea where to start on a lot of this stuff. I just have a feeling sometimes that I’m being done wrong.
If you get a chance, and are ready to do some serious reading, head over there – I don’t know how the man posts so many blog entries, not to mention SEO his site so well…. that’s another story.
I also want to spread the word that there is a petition for “revoking” the Driver Surcharge Program. Do us all a favor and Sign The Petition Against the Texas Driver Responsibilty Surcharge Program !