There's no doubt but what our city and our county have a lot of police officers. There is also no doubt but that our court system is extremely busy. The other day I was driving through heavy rain when I spotted a young man running along the side street I was on, I stopped to give him a lift and learned that he was trying to get to city court to pay a fine. The parking lot was full around the courtroom and I learned later that the courtroom usually has only standing room, at least the first half hour or so until it begins to clear out.

Visit this traffic court and you will soon see that it is filled up with mostly the poorest of our citizens and they in their poverty are footing the bill to the tune of over 2 million per year [ county wide ] occasionly there is a serious speeding ticket but more often it is a seat belt or failure to have insurance violation. So many of these young men and women work part time at minimum wage and simply cannot find the money to comply with all the traffic laws that have been enacted over the last ten years or so.

These fines force them to use chech into cash places or rely on their families to bail them out. As President Bush Sr., once said we need a more kinder and gentler nation. Right now in our community I do not see any force or influence that is working to make our community easier on the poor. Neither the schools nor the churches or the justice system seem aware of the harsh environment that our young and poor must try to function in.