[Vision2020] Law lets legislators get pass on speeding tickets

[Paul Rumelhart]

The reasoning isn't just that they have to be *able* to get there to vote, it's there so that a local police department somewhere along the line can't just pull them over in an effort to delay them so that they are not able to vote in a way in which the police department doesn't approve of, or whoever might have "suggested" they delay them.  

While it does sound like an entitlement, it is there for a reason.

Paul




________________________________
 From: Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>
To: Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Cc: Jeanne McHale <jeannemchale at hotmail.com>; Fritz Knorr <fritzknorr at gmail.com> 
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 8:11 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] Law lets legislators get pass on speeding tickets
 


Courtesy of today's (September 16, 2013) Spokesman-Review.

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Law lets legislators get pass on speeding tickets
TACOMA – It’s a joke shared privately among some state lawmakers in Olympia: Go ahead, drive as fast as you want on the way to the Capitol. You won’t get a ticket – it’s the law.
Though said in jest, the advice is rooted in reality. Legislators headed to work can’t get speeding tickets – or so says the Washington State Patrol and at least one local police department.
A spokesman for WSP said Washington lawmakers are constitutionally protected from receiving noncriminal traffic tickets during a legislative session, as well as 15 days before. The Tacoma Police Department abides by a similar policy, a spokeswoman said.
The privilege not only applies to moving violations near the state Capitol in Olympia, but potentially anywhere in the state, State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins said.
The logic? Detaining lawmakers on the road – even for the time it takes to issue them a speeding ticket – may delay them from getting to the Capitol to vote, Calkins said.
Lawmakers could be in Spokane, hundreds of miles from Olympia, and still get a pass if they tell a trooper they’re headed to legislative business, Calkins said.
“As soon as we find out they are a legislator, if they choose to tell us, then we need to get them on their way as soon as possible,” Calkins said.
The State Patrol’s rule is known to many at the Capitol, though some consider it “informal mythology,” said state Sen. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma.
“It’s commonly joked about,” said Darneille, who has been in the Legislature since 2001. “I have never seen anything in writing … and I’ve never tested it.”
Calkins said the dispensation comes from Article II, Section 16 of the state constitution, which says lawmakers “shall be privileged from arrest in all cases except treason, felony and breach of the peace” while the Legislature meets. That section of the constitution also says legislators “shall not be subject to any civil process” during the session and the 15 days prior.
The State Patrol considers a noncriminal traffic ticket a civil process, Calkins said, much like being summoned to court to respond to a civil suit.
The state attorney general’s office issued a 1979 opinion that would suggest lawmakers aren’t protected from receiving traffic tickets, but the law has changed since then, spokeswoman Janelle Guthrie wrote. Although traffic offenses were once considered criminal matters, the state began punishing most of them via civil fines in 1981.
Calkins said state lawmakers still can be arrested and cited for criminal behavior, such as driving under the influence. They can also receive parking tickets.
“It’s not a complete free pass to go do anything they want to do and never be held accountable,” Calkins said.
The privilege doesn’t apply year-round, as legislative sessions generally last 105 days in odd-numbered years and 60 days in even-numbered ones.
But extra sessions can make the benefit last longer, as was the case this year, when lawmakers met for 153 days between January and June.
State Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said when lawmakers discuss the perk, they mostly warn each other to avoid using it.
“If you’re an elected official and you’re ever involved with law enforcement, it’s only going to create more problems for you if you say, ‘Hey, I’m a member of the House,’ or ‘I’m a state senator,’ ” Jinkins said.
But state Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said sometimes lawmakers can’t get a ticket even if they want one. Hunter said he was stopped for speeding during his first term in the House, and a state trooper refused to issue him a ticket even after he asked for a citation.
“I was going 71 miles per hour in Fife on the freeway,” Hunter said. “I should have gotten a ticket.”
After that, Hunter introduced a bill in the House that would have clarified state law so legislators could still receive traffic tickets year-round. The 2005 bill didn’t receive a hearing.
Other state lawmakers said they weren’t aware of the State Patrol’s practice and disagree with the idea of troopers giving legislators special treatment.
“I think if they determine to give a ticket, they should,” said Republican Sen. Mike Padden of Spokane Valley, a retired Spokane County District Court judge who chairs the Senate Law and Justice Committee.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon

 

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