It is our position that all the states of the union known as the United States, are as tightly bound to the rule of law as the citizens in this republic.
The states which make up the United States are not democracies; they are republics. In a republic, the citizen is intended to be the ultimate check to the balance of law.
From the above perspective, the police are not and never have been the problem. They are simply doing what they are trained and directed to do. Neither is it the prosecutors as they are simply doing what the judges want and expect them to do. The judges are the not problem either. They are only as corrupt as we allow them to be.
You and I, we are the problem. We have failed to police our police and have let them stray so far from the rule of law that we now live in the worst police state the world has ever seen. The average conviction rate in Texas, for example, is 99.6% and this number is primarily driven my traffic cases.
While this site will help people get their tickets thrown out, that is not our primary purpose. The primary purpose is to hold the police and courts to the same rule of law they propose to hold the citizens to.
The traffic courts are the only place where the majority of the public interact with the criminal justice system and that is a problem. It is a problem because the traffic courts are horrifically corrupt. Our municipal judges and justices of peace run the most outrageously corrupt courts in the country, by far. They railroad everyone who comes in the door and give the public the opinion that the court systems are totally corrupt and there is not way to fight for your rights.
The traffic courts are simply a gris mill and people are herded through like cattle.
While this site will help people get their tickets thrown out, that is not our primary purpose. It is our purpose to hold the police, prosecutors, judges and all other public officials involved in traffic enforcement to the strict letter of the law.
The strategy is unique yet simple. All we do is hold public officials to the same letter of law as they would hold us. We expect public officials, when they enforce the law, to scrupulously follow that same law.
Every time an officials steps outside the legal limits of their official capacity, we use the tools available in law to bring them to task as they would bring us to task.
In 2021 there were 9 million criminal cases filed in Texas, 7 million were traffic. Of those 7 million, 72% just sent a check to the court. That means that 27% did not. 27% objected and appeared at court only to be sent to the prosecutor whose job it was to coerce the accused into taking a deal, which they do in 99% of the cases.
Here we have a few issues you may need to consider when considering the motions and pleadings we prepare. Here we explain the overriding perspective from which we approach the court.
When you were given a traffic citation, the arresting officer had the authority and, in most cases, the duty to release you on a promise to appear. The officer will have directed you to appear and, without regard to whether you signed the ticket or not, you were released on the condition that you appear as directed on the citation.
The officer is authorized to release you on the express or implied promise to appear but not before a judge. Article 543.006 authorizes the officer to release the accused on a promise to appear before a magistrate.
As we will explain later, a magistrate is quite different than a judge. While a judge and magistrate can be the same person, they wear to entirely different hats.
The citation issued by the officer is not a charging instrument in Texas. We will address other states as we come to them. In Texas, the courts do not construe that the citation has been signed by the arresting officer under oath.
Th courts will treat it as a charging instrument as assert that, if you do not raise an objection, no harm no foul. Well, we will object strenuously and in writing.
A judge cannot exert subject matter jurisdiction, in a criminal prosecution, until certain criteria are met and, in traffic cases, they never are.
When a citation is issued, the court presumes jurisdiction and if it is never challenged, they will proceed as if they do have jurisdiction.
When you make your first appearance, if it is in accordance with the terms of the citation which orders you to appear on or before a date certain, and you do not enter a guilty plea or plea of nolo-contendre, you will be give a date certain to appear.
If the citation commands you to appear on a date certain or you appear in accordance with the date set at your first appearance, you will be directed to a prosecutor who will then play, Let's Make A Deal.
You can hire a lawyer and we do not recommend one way or the other on this. If you go in by yourself (pro se) the prosecutor will offer you a deal. If you appear by counsel, the prosecutor will play, Lets Make a Deal. For the most part, you can make the same deal as the lawyer, or better.
We propose a number of remedies on this page, none of which your lawyer will address. Your lawyer is not your friend. Your lawyer may want to be your friend but, the reality is, when the lawyer steps before a judge, the lawyer is not going to do anything to annoy the judge as lawyers feel the judge can yank their bar card at their caprice, and they are right.
It is not that judges will as they all tend to have their snouts in the same trough, but lawyers know they can or the judge can rule against the lawyer's next client to get back at them and, therefore will do nothing to annoy the judge.
Now, that may not be right, but that is how things are in the world you and I live in. And, that may sound like a problem, but it is not. It is only a parameter and we will show you how to use that to your advantage.
Going to court with a lawyer is like playing 4 sided chess. It is all about relationships. You sit at your table, your lawyer is to your right, opposing counsel is to the left and the judge is across from you. You have a relationship with your lawyer. Your lawyer has a relationship with opposing counsel and they both have a relationship with the judge. If you are to find a just adjudication, you need to get inside those relationships.
The first thing you do is file a set of motions and pleadings with the clerk. This sometimes causes issues as almost no one every files any motions or pleadings with traffic courts and often, the clerk will not know that you can or how to deal with them.
The clerk is there to keep the record. The clerk is required to enter your motions and pleadings into the record of the court. You will always want a copy of the first page to include the file stamp of the court including the date of filing so that you can prove the motion or pleading was filed on this day at the time specified.
If the clerk refuses, don't make a scene. This writer generally calls the bailiff over and asks the bailiff to arrest the clerk but we don't suggest you do that. We have more subtle ways of handling this.
After the hearing we will provide a questionnaire that will analyze your interactions with the court then it will produce the documentation needed to address whatever they do.
We assure you, the courts will do so many things wrong you will have trouble keeping up with all of it. As we proceed, we will develop motions and pleadings which go to the bad behavior of public officials with whom you will interact. Each improper act is a potential fight so, we suggest you decide which fights you want to have at this time and leave the others for later.
The Fifth Circuit, the Federal Circuit for Texas, has ruled that citizens can record their public officials in the performance of their duty. While that is the law, officials often do not follow the law. They will often block you from doing what the law clearly allows you to do.
This is a fight you can choose to have and if you do, we can help.
Bailiffs are the security officers for the courts. It is their job to keep the peace, no matter who breaches it. We spoke earlier to picking your fights carefully. When you go into a court and do things the courts are not accustomed to having people do, they tend to get nervous, anxious, and want to consider you as a threat.
If you are dealing with a court employee and they are getting upset or "agitated," it might be a good idea to go ask the bailiff to come and observe the proceedings to insure security.
This will make them crazy as it is the officials who usually call security. If you do it first, you will often diffuse an escalating situation and get their attention.
In the section on Traffic Law Enforcement we explain the law as it relates to traffic enforcement.
We have analyzed traffic enforcement in detail and have developed a set of motions and pleadings to address every issue a person normally encounters.
If you use our tools, the case will almost never get beyond the opening stage. It will seldom ever get to the merits of the case as the courts are so screwed up, they simply cannot get there.
The first set of documents will be pleadings in that they will be Pleas to the Jurisdiction.
Everything begins with jurisdiction. Before the court can exercise any authority, it must demonstrate that it has jurisdiction over the subject matter. Before you talk to the prosecutor, you should demand that s/he prove up standing to represent the state. If you are in a justice of peace court, the prosecutor may be able to by demonstrating that s/he is a county attorney or assistant county attorney. If the prosecutor is a city attorney, they have a problem.
The Texas Constitution stipulates that county and district attorney shall represent the state in all criminal prosecutions. You will take notice that city attorneys are not included and, what is not included is excluded.
We will provide a document challenging the standing of a city attorney to represent the state.
If you are in a justice of peace court, the prosecutor will be a county attorney and will have authority to represent the state.
According to the Texas Constitution, a prosecution in Texas is commenced by the filing of an information or an indictment.
An information is a document created by the county or district attorney based on a verified criminal complaint which had been presented to the prosecutor.
Traffic courts try to prosecute based on a citation alone and there is case law which says they can do that but it is bogus case law and we will challenge it at every turn.
Due process is guaranteed by the federal constitution. In order to secure and maintain jurisdiction, all members of the court and prosecutorial team must strictly adhere to the rule of law.
Any deviation from the rule of law which has the effect of denying a citizen in the full and free access to or enjoyment of any Constitutionally guaranteed right amounts to a contractual violation by the offender and has the effect of rendering the court without subject matter jurisdiction.
