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Comment on Thoughts about responsibility

PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

I was in court a few times when I was younger. Nothing too major.

The first time, it really disgusted me seeing person after person get up before me and try to tell the judge how they hadn’t done anything wrong with just transparent horseshit. My turn came up, the cop testified to what happened, the judge asked me for my side, and I just said that it happened the way the cop said. The judge was legitimately a little taken aback.

What the fuck, what am I supposed to say? Maybe it would have been different if it had been big charges or if I had been less naive or something, or if there was some wiggle room in what happened, but I just didn’t see the point in wasting everybody’s time and making myself look stupid and dishonest.

(Note: Do not do this. Court reality is different from everyday life honorable reality. Get a lawyer, don’t say shit, fight to negotiate a better deal and threaten to waste their time and resources making them prove it if they don’t work something out with you. That is what a person will do if they want a good outcome. My priorities were different, I guess, I don’t know. I will say that in this case it didn’t wind up getting me in any more trouble than I would have been anyway. Mostly I’m just telling what happened to me and how I reacted and why.)

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shalafi@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You can fess up to super minor shit like traffic violations, but yeah, a lawyer’s words should be the only thing a cop or judge hears. And FFS, dress appropriately.

I’ll take this opportunity to stump for legal insurance. $26/mo. gets a lawyer on the phone within the hour and free advice, all the calls I want, among other freebies. An actual court case is 25% off. The difference between the rich and poor is legal representation.

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- AtariDump@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Tell us more about this legal insurance…
  
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- PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  And FFS, dress appropriately.
  
  Random story, I once showed up groomed and in a suit that was sharp enough that the judge thought I was defense counsel (with the defendant not showing up) instead of the defendant, and I had to politely correct him. 😃
  
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  - shalafi@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Same! I showed up to court in Arkansas for my child custody case and twice court officials asked who I was representing. A Mexican man’s young girl (he didn’t speak English) was begging me for help. God I felt bad, but I was trying to explain I was a defendant myself. :( Why did you make me remember that?!
    
    One time when I was in court for a warrant (unpaid moving violation) and stood and answered roll call, “Thank you Mr. Shalafi for dressing appropriately for my courtroom.” I skated with only paying the fine.
    
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    PhilipTheBucket@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Yeah. The judge in that situation was pretty chill with me as well. I feel like it’s like a lot of human interactions, if you show that you respect the other person’s side of the interaction, they’ll be inclined to do extra for you where they can.
    
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grue@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

(Note: Do not do this. Court reality is different from everyday life honorable reality. Get a lawyer, don’t say shit, fight to negotiate a better deal and threaten to waste their time and resources making them prove it if they don’t work something out with you. That is what a person will do if they want a good outcome. My priorities were different, I guess, I don’t know. I will say that in this case it didn’t wind up getting me in any more trouble than I would have been anyway. Mostly I’m just telling what happened to me and how I reacted and why.)

See, that’s the whole fucking problem: as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that even if you want to be ethical, systems in society have been designed by sociopaths to exploit that inclination and punish you for it. From a game theory perspective, trying to be a good person in 2025 America has become a losing strategy.

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- Flax_vert@feddit.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  UK is the same. If you have TV Licensing goons show up and let them in and try to explain that you don’t need a TV, they’ll pin something on you. Best thing to do is shut the door in their face.
  
  A while ago there was a guy walking back from his allotment and he got arrested by armed police for his trowel looking like a knife. He was told that he’ll need to wait a while for a solicitor, but could take an interview and be out soon without one. He did that thinking it was best, but they gave him a caution over it (which is basically only given if you make an admission of guilt, but it’s a warning and won’t go to trial, however, it appears on your record). My speculation is, he likely talked to them and tried to explain, and one likely said something like “yes but this could be used as a weapon? If someone attacked you, would you use it to defend yourself? There, you’ve admitted to carrying a weapon”
  
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