<p>The question I have is when did the assessment kick in? Is it retroactive? Is it even part of the criminal offense or just – as it says – an assessment?</p>
<p>I would suspect that this issue has been litigated, but I can’t figure out how you can make a payment and plead guilty to a certain offense based on the laws then in effect and then have the government change the law and retroactively fine you for a matter that you discharged on the basis of the original law. Imagine pleading guilty to a 30 day offense for shoplifting and then finding out that there’s a new law and you have to report back to prison for 2 years even though you completed serving your sentence a year earlier. That’s why I doubt that this assessment is a criminal penalty.</p>
<p>You say this assessment came about a year after your ticket. Was it enacted a year later or is that just when the payments begin that you had overlooked when you decided to plead guilty and pay the fine?</p>
<p>If it was enacted later, and you can show that you pleaded guilty because of the nuisance factor of defending the original ticket for the then-applicable fine, you could have a case. (Or perhaps not, but let’s assume you have a colorable case.) The question then becomes: Had you known that you’d also have to pay $300 spread out over three years, would you have contested the ticket? And, if so, would you have won…he who conceded to us that he was, in fact, speeding as ticketed?)</p>
<p>Your complaint, then, is that you weren’t aware of the full extent of the penalty and you’re surprised – not that you are getting a harsher punishment than you would have agreed to pay (or been ordered to pay if you had contested the case).</p>
<p>Still, if the law is retroactive, I wonder if it’s part of the motor vehicle record or basically a tax – or “assessment” – as opposed to a fine for which you would get flagged if you were stopped again. </p>
<p>Don’t take my advice – which, paradoxically, is the only advice from me that you should take – but it’s possible that a retroactive assessment is valid only if it’s not a DMV fine. You paid your DMV fine as required. Your criminal debt to society was paid. This thing could be another creature, like a tax, in order to avoid “double jeopardy” (again, I’m getting waaaay out of my league here, so caveat lurker).</p>
<p>As for me, I don’t pay for those “I Support My State Trooper” organization emblems – largely because only pennies on the dollar get to the troopers. Instead, I give blood regularly and credit law enforcement. And for that I’ve got a nice bumper sticker that says I’m a 10-gallon donor for law enforcement. I’m not exactly light on the gas – though I’m not reckless and haven’t been in an accident – and haven’t gotten a ticket. Though avoiding tickets is a nice perk, it’s not why I’m a donor – in fact I first donated blood long ago as a self-imposed penance after a trooper couldn’t make the court date (meaning I got off of a sure ticket) because his colleague was shot down the day before and I read that the trooper who was killed had donated blood hours before he was shot 7 times during a “routine” traffic stop. I was guilty of speeding and I felt even more guilty so I felt like I should do something and that’s what I decided was most appropriate – particularly since I hate needles and the sight of my blood. (Still do.)</p>
<p>Now, I’ve been stopped and warned plenty of times. I’ve even had a sheriff pull alongside me at more than 10 mph over the limit and wave at me to ease up on the gas. Even out-of-state my wife, driving my car, has had a trooper flash his headlights at her from behind to remind her to slow down. So I’m pretty sure that, were it not for that bumper sticker, my bank account would have suffered. And, hey, if it gets you to donate blood, go ahead, feel free to use this “tip”…especially if you plan to drive on the New York Thruway ever again.</p>
<p>Caveat lurker.</p>