The Unfair Fare

by: Thurman Hart

Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 10:31:38 AM EDT

I'd ask what's wrong with this picture, but there are just too many correct answers.

The short story:
1) Recent emigre Gerhard Hofer loses $1 in the automated ticket machine at the Hoboken lightrail station.

2) Not wanting to miss his train, Mr. Hofer gets on the train without a ticket.

3) Mr. Hofer is arrested in Jersey City for failure to pay his fare.

4) Mr Hofer tries to pay his fine online, but cannot because he doesn't own a vehicle.

5) The Court postpones his hearing from June 20 to July 19.

6) The Court postpones his hearing from July 19 to Aug 4.

7) Mr. Hofer asks for a postponement and heads back to Germany for vaction.

8) Mr. Hofer receives letter notifying him there is a warrant for his arrest.

9) Mr. Hofer asks a police officer what to do about the letter and is arrested.

10) Mr. Hofer is not carrying $250 in cash, is not allowed to use an ATM or his credit card, is relieved of his possessions (including his belt and shoelaces) and is sent to county lock-up in Kearny.

11) Mr. Hofer is processed into the county jail and held overnight - in sub-human conditions - and has a tele-conference with the judge in the morning.

12) Mr. Hofer is sentenced to time served, fined $10 for court costs, and released - in Kearny, without his belt, wallet, or shoelaces.

13) Mr. Hofer walks across the street to a warehouse his company uses and borrows $10 to get back to Jersey City.

14) Mr. Hofer is told he cannot reclaim his possessions until Tuesday morning because of the Labor Day holiday.

15) Sgt. John Reo, seeing that Mr. Hofer is distressed, calls a retired officer (Dennis Carroll) who still has keys to the evidence room and retrieves Mr. Hofer's items.

Mr. Hofer's experience is a frightening reminder that our justice system is sometimes too blind. What bothers me just as much, however, is that the good Samaritan who removes Mr. Hofer's possessions from police custody has no business having that kind of access. It doesn't take a genius to know that this access, while used for a benevolent service in this example, could just as easily be used for malevolent purposes. I'm not accusing Mr. Carroll of anything, but if he still has keys - and it's known to Sgt. Reo - then who else has keys without current proper authorization and who else knows how to make use of that knowledge?

Thurman Hart :: The Unfair Fare

Tags: Hudson County, justice system, (All Tags)

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The Unfair Fare | 2 comments

Kafka 2008. n/t (0.00 / 0)

by: Creed Pogue @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 15:05:54 PM UTC

If This Can Happen To A Middle Class.... (0.00 / 0)

..... businessperson who is in management, and presumably a smart well educated fellow; imagine the kinds of abusive injustices of this type that get perpetrated of the poor, the ill, the uneducated and the broken spirited folks who tend to occupy our county jails in "sub-human conditions".

The reason this story is "news" is because of who the victim is; for many Americans this kind of Kafkaesque "justice" is par for the course and not too many people give a damn they they are subjected to sub-human treatment.

Thanks to Thurman for breaking the story down to the elements and taking it to a level that the Journal didn't.

The following quote from the story raises another question....

He arrived at the Jersey City police station at 6:30 p.m. and was told his property, including the keys to his apartment, was locked up until Tuesday morning due to the Labor Day holiday, he said.
He tried to explain that he would have to sleep on the street. "She said, 'Look, I'm not having this argument here, good-bye,'" he said.
"I just lost it," he said. "I punched a street sign in frustration, and a police car stopped."
And at that moment his luck turned.
Sgt. John Reo drove up in his police car and asked him what was wrong. After hearing Hofer's tale, Reo made some calls and found a retired police officer who still had a key to the East Precinct's property and evidence room. The officer, Dennis Carroll, drove to the precinct and gave Hofer back his possessions - and his faith in the kindness of strangers.

I dare say that had Hofer been a less "sympathetic" character that he may not have had officer Reo bend over backwards to help him. Why should people depend on extraordinary "kindness" to get our criminal justice system to actually be humane and decent?

by: Nick Lento @ Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 16:14:23 PM UTC