Curious About $25 Fee To Fight Ticket, Win Or Lose

WBZ

Ok. Raise your hand.

Who's sick of paying fees every time you turn around? Now there's a new one you may not know about.

Debbie from Lowell brought it to our attention when she delcared her curiosity:

"Why the state of Massachusetts charges you a fee of $25 if you're fighting a traffic ticket whether you're found innocent or guilty?"

As we found out, a lot of people think you shouldn't have to pay to have your day in court.

The sound of a cash register is not something we usually associate with going to court.

Either is a receipt.

But that's what you'll see and hear if you want to fight a traffic ticket these days.

Thanks to a law passed by state legislators and signed by Governor Patrick, it now costs $25 to have a hearing to say "I didn't do it!"

WIN OR LOSE - YOU'RE OUT $25

We spent a morning at the Boston Municipal Court as a steady stream of people came in to challenge traffic tickets for speeding, failure to stop and such.

Each had to go to a special window and pay $25 to have a hearing.

If you lose, you're out your $25.

If you win, well, you're still out the $25.

It's part of plan to pump money into state coffers and into a court system that has been hit hard by budget cuts.

"The court certainly is not opposed to trying to raise revenue to in order to support itself," says Dan Hogan, the Clerk Magistrate of the Boston Municipal Court.

IS IT FAIR?

"You get a fair, full and speedy opportunity to air your grievances, so in that regard, I think it's appropriate," he adds.

But a number of people we talked with disagree.

"I didn't think it was right," says Amanda Williams of Lowell.

She got a $150 ticket for running a stop sign, and she paid another $25 for a hearing.

She lost.

"They're just trying to get money out of everybody," she complains.

We met James Kokoszyna at the court house after he paid the fee for his hearing. He sees a bigger problem.

"I think it's unconstitutional," he said.

"You should be able to contest a ticket without having to pay a fee to speak your case. I think it's a denial of your basic rights."

VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS?

"There's something about this that feels like it's a violation of due process," said David Yas, the publisher of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

However he says even though the fee may "feel" wrong, under the law, it really isn't.

That's because driving is a privilege not a right, and these are civil, not criminal, cases.

"Your liberty is not at stake. It's not a crime. So you can't raise any of thee big constitutional right to this or that kind of arguments for this," he says.

This fee is also not unique. There are others in the court system.

"In the end the state wins, and for a few disgruntled motorists, it's too bad," said Yas.

FEE = $5 MILLION EXTRA

Last year there were more than 200,000 hearing requests to fight tickets.

So the state could raise as much as $5 million from this one fee.

On top of that, if you lose at your hearing, you have to pay an additional $50 to appeal your ticket to a judge.

If you can't afford the fee, you can ask the court to waive it.

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