Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter as a concerned citizen of Green River. I have recently had the opportunity to experience the Municipal Court system within the City of Green River as a parent of a minor child. On April 1, my son was issued a citation for inattentive driving. He hit an unoccupied parked vehicle while backing up causing damage to both vehicles.
He immediately contacted the police, attempted to locate the owner and then contacted me by phone. There were no injuries, drugs, or alcohol involved. It was simply an accident and by all accounts he acted very responsibly by reporting the accident and not just leaving the scene. All damages were rectified through our insurance company, and my son was able to make contact with the owner of the vehicle as well to apologize and take full responsibility for the accident. When he was issued the citation it was not marked as a “must appear.” The officer on scene told us that we could simply pay the fine and therefore would not need to appear in court. As part of the consequence of the accident it was my son’s responsibility to cover all costs of this accident including the fine using the money he has saved from working. Approximately, two weeks later we arrived at the municipal court building to pay the fine. We were told at that time by the court clerk staff that “all juveniles are required to appear before the judge when they are given a citation.”
I questioned this, as this is not what the officer had said nor indicated. I was then told that it was a new city ordinance recently passed and the officers are not all aware that it is in effect. So we arrive as scheduled for court, and my son appears before Judge Jason Petri. He pleads guilty to inattentive driving and is now fined $75 plus $10 in court costs. When I question, how you can force a minor to appear in court, therefore charging them more money for the same offense as you would an adult, I was again told this was a city ordinance and should contact my local council representative.
After some phone calls, and checking what I discovered is that there was untruthful information given and rather than admit their mistake they continue to shift the blame on others. My final phone call was to Clerk of Court, Hope Gardea and was informed that Judge Petri “picks and chooses” which juveniles he sees in court. When asked further to explain she said that he feels he needs to teach our children how to take responsibility for their actions. At what point are you now overstepping your bounds by entering my role as a parent and deciding how and when to teach my child responsible living? How is this not discrimination to force one juvenile to pay more for the same offense as another or an adult?
How does the judge make these decisions when I was told he needed to appear prior to the court locating the citation or knowing any other information regarding the situation? I think it is unfortunate, that as a parent I was forced to pull my son from school, so he could appear in court and continue to be punished for a situation in which he truly has done nothing but demonstrate his “responsibility “ in this manner.
I would also question why it is that the municipal court feels it is OK to exploit the city’s minors and their parents by forcing them to “appear in court” regardless of the offense and in turn being charged the $10 fee. Is this how they are paying for the new building?
Or is it that Judge Petri has no consideration for the boundaries as a judge and has now invited himself to into the homes of every parent as he sees fit when it comes to “teaching responsibility?”
As a parent, I would encourage anyone in this situation to speak out. It is not up to the court system to raise our children.
Stephani Gilmore
Green River
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