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When I was much younger and a bit stupider I spent a weekend in jail for neglecting to fix a broken side view mirror on my car. That turned into a "failure to a

When I was much younger and a bit stupider I spent a weekend in jail for neglecting to fix a broken side view mirror on my car. That turned into a "failure to appear before the court," which put me in in jail for a weekend. What the author of the article describes is almost the same thing, but worse. At least in jail people were chatty and friendly (I know, right?). But there were times when you'd be in a cell by yourself for 6+ hours and that was not fun at all. I don't recommend that the OP do it the way I did it.

58x14 4y ago
A weekend in jail for an equipment violation, or for the failure to appear? Either way, that’s absurd and really is emblematic of how inefficient the American justice system is.
- buffington 4y ago
  The weekend in jail was officially for the failure to appear. I'd been pulled over because my vehicle's registration was expired. The officer didn't issue a ticket for that and just gave me a warning. But the car was also missing a front bumper and had no mirrors. I was issued a "fix-it" ticket for the lack of mirrors. The instructions in the citation for how to resolve the issue were crystal clear and provided a more than generous amount of time to do it. It would have been very easy to avoid ending up in jail, but me, being a freshly 18 year old kid with undiagnosed (at the time) ADHD just didn't get around to resolving the issue. I could have gone to any auto parts store and spent $20 on a single cheap generic mirror, gone to any police station with my "fix-it" ticket and shown that I'd fixed the issue, paid the $5.00 fee, and been done. But I didn't. I just forgot about it. When you do that, it's considered to be the same as ignoring court orders. A warrant was issued for my arrest. I was pulled over on a Friday night and spent the weekend waiting for my turn to explain to a judge on the following Monday morning why I ignored the citation. The initial citation and path to compliance was totally reasonable - maybe too reasonable considering it allowed me to continue driving around with no mirrors in one of the most car-dense metropolises in the world. I could have done the right thing and it wouldn't have gone on any record, or reported to my insurance company, or risked losing my license. Zero consequences except a safer car. I don't disagree that there are obvious flaws with the American justice system, but this example ranks very low on that list in my opinion. For what it's worth, the experience of spending a weekend in "adult" jail as an 18 year old changed my life in positive ways. I had lived my life not knowing I had ADHD, and this event was a catalyst in helping get diagnosed. That diagnosis helped make sense of the common refrain of "why are you failing your classes - you have so much potential", and helped me understand I wasn't stupid. Just different. I don't like to imagine how different my life would be today had I not had that experience and subsequent diagnosis.

58x14 4y ago

A weekend in jail for an equipment violation, or for the failure to appear? Either way, that’s absurd and really is emblematic of how inefficient the American justice system is.

buffington 4y ago
The weekend in jail was officially for the failure to appear. I'd been pulled over because my vehicle's registration was expired. The officer didn't issue a ticket for that and just gave me a warning. But the car was also missing a front bumper and had no mirrors. I was issued a "fix-it" ticket for the lack of mirrors. The instructions in the citation for how to resolve the issue were crystal clear and provided a more than generous amount of time to do it. It would have been very easy to avoid ending up in jail, but me, being a freshly 18 year old kid with undiagnosed (at the time) ADHD just didn't get around to resolving the issue. I could have gone to any auto parts store and spent $20 on a single cheap generic mirror, gone to any police station with my "fix-it" ticket and shown that I'd fixed the issue, paid the $5.00 fee, and been done. But I didn't. I just forgot about it. When you do that, it's considered to be the same as ignoring court orders. A warrant was issued for my arrest. I was pulled over on a Friday night and spent the weekend waiting for my turn to explain to a judge on the following Monday morning why I ignored the citation. The initial citation and path to compliance was totally reasonable - maybe too reasonable considering it allowed me to continue driving around with no mirrors in one of the most car-dense metropolises in the world. I could have done the right thing and it wouldn't have gone on any record, or reported to my insurance company, or risked losing my license. Zero consequences except a safer car. I don't disagree that there are obvious flaws with the American justice system, but this example ranks very low on that list in my opinion. For what it's worth, the experience of spending a weekend in "adult" jail as an 18 year old changed my life in positive ways. I had lived my life not knowing I had ADHD, and this event was a catalyst in helping get diagnosed. That diagnosis helped make sense of the common refrain of "why are you failing your classes - you have so much potential", and helped me understand I wasn't stupid. Just different. I don't like to imagine how different my life would be today had I not had that experience and subsequent diagnosis.