Got back from a weekend in New Orleans. The Big Easy really might be my favorite city on the planet. I love that it’s filthy, smells bad, there’s too many people, there’s a decent chance of getting robbed, and that’s just the touristy parts. I keed, I keed. Really, I love the culture, the attitude, the food, the architecture, the people, and yes, the grime. Maybe it’s because Bryan-College Station can get a little Pleasantville at times, but I like going to a real city. Too bad the Louisiana bar doesn’t offer reciprocity. It was bad enough learning Oil and Gas law for the bar, I’m not about to try to figure out French Civil Code.
Anyway, a couple of legal observations from New Orleans. As we were out walking around, I saw a campaign sign for someone running for Traffic Judge. While one can probably make a decent argument that J.P. and municipal judges are glorified traffic judges who happen to have some additional responsibilities, that probably isn’t how they run their campaigns. I wonder what percentage of the Bryan and College Station municipal court judges caseloads are traffic related. My immediate thought was, how do you campaign for traffic judge.
Most judges seem to campaign that they’ll “git tuff on crime.” Longer prison sentences for the dregs of society. Lock ‘em up and throw away the key. Kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out. You get the idea. It’s an idea that seems to resonate well with the voters. It’s probably tough to convince people that lighter sentences for murders, rapists, robbers, kiddie diddlers, etc is a good idea. And if you’re a voter, you probably think to yourself that there’s a very small chance you’ll be convicted of one of the above crimes. The likelihood of having a “git tuff on crime” judge affect your life is pretty slim.
However, will that work when you’re campaigning for traffic judge? John or Jane Q. Voter might not have any plans of catching a first degree felony, but there’s a decent chance they get some kind of traffic ticket. Do they want to be facing the judge who has called for higher fines for all traffic violators? I think if I was running of traffic judge, my campaign slogan would be “Deferred For Everyone!”
There were a couple billboards along I-10 in the middle of Cajun Country from the Louisiana State Police that said something to the effect of “Obey the Speed Limit…Or Else.” I wish I had taken a picture of it now, I can’t remember exactly what it said. After seeing the billboard, I slowed down to the posted speed limit. I was out in the middle of nowhere, I didn’t want to find out what how rural parish sheriff interpreted “or else.”
