Today I lost my case trying to argue that my off-leash citation was unreasonable, unnecessary and unfair. The Santa Cruz Superior Judge Kim Baskett sided with Officer Wilson who gave me this citation back in June. When I asked the judge to consider the spirit of the law instead of the letter of the law, she said “The spirit, what’s that?”
At that point, I knew that this was a lost case. Trying to reason with the judge and explain that maybe there was a point behind the leash law and not simply the formality was a complete fiasco. All she wanted to hear was me admitting that the dog was off-leash. Nothing else mattered. Just like it did not matter to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Wilson.
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I presented my dog’s certificate of graduation from a dog school, supporting my claim that he was well behaved and stayed within 2 meters of me, just if he was on leash. I gave her the letter which I wrote prior to going to court. She said she read it and that she finds me guilty of the charge anyway with the maximum fine of $250, which I already paid as a bail.
Miss Baskett made quite a few interesting statements, which, for the sake of other people reading this, I will state as well. I don’t know if any of them are true, but she made them seem like so. She is a judge, so she must know… Right? So here it is.
a) Unless you are on your private property, anywhere you go, you have to keep your dog on leash, unless there is a sign saying “off leash area.”
b) Other people would not come to the beach if they see a dog off-leash.
c) State officials do not want your dog off-leash.
After my hearing ended I went into the court's bathroom and cried for good 20 minutes. It is not the fine itself that was so upsetting. Besides, I already paid it prior to my hearing. I think i was more upset about what this message means.
It means that people like me, responsible dog owners who train their dogs to be good citizens, are very much limited when it comes to their rights as citizens and people who come and enjoy the beach.
Apparently, they cannot play catch or frisbee with their dogs at any Santa Cruz beaches except one, and even then only during certain hours.
That was, basically, my crime.
As I've said before, the spirit of the leash law is to make sure unruly dogs don't run around creating chaos. The judicial system (and by extension, law enforcement system) don't care about that. It is not their jobs to be humans. Quite the opposite, their jobs are to be impartial rule enforcing automatons.
Laws are written using the grapeshot method. By which I mean, there exists a problem (i.e. dogs running around misbehaving), a legislator proposes a broad solution (all dogs must wear leashes all the time), and then the automatons (Law Enforcement/Judicial System) enforce the law, regardless of special cases (you and Filya) which aren't really a problem, but still technically break the rules.
The robots have won.
Oh quit your whining and pay up! You broke the law, KNEW you were, and got caught!
Lesson to be learned: Don't let him stray if you don't wanna pay!
It's like me bitching because DPT gives me a $60 ticket for parking in the alley behind my business. It certainly seems unfair and unproductive to harass a business owner who puts tens of thousands of dollars into the cities pocket every year, especially since I have a valid parking permit, I leave my business card on the windshield, it's not a hazard, and I plain don't have another choice beyond pumping 3$ an hour into a parking meter, but I know I'm breaking the law and I accept the consequences for doing so (not to mention over the course of a year it is FAR less expensive than paying to park legally and MUCH more convenient!).
Yes. I was pretty upset. I didn't expect the judge to apply the law as a blanket rule in my case. I was hoping for a more human approach. I thought that she would be more interested in honoring the spirit of the law than the mindless application of it. I thought she would be more interested in serving justice. Is this what you call justice?
After my hearing ended I went into the court's bathroom and cried for good 20 minutes. It is not the fine itself that was so upsetting. Besides, I already paid it prior to my hearing. I think i was more upset about what this message means.
It means that people like me, responsible dog owners who train their dogs to be good citizens, are very much limited when it comes to their rights as citizens and people who come and enjoy the beach.
Apparently, they cannot play catch or frisbee with their dogs at any Santa Cruz beaches except one, and even then only during certain hours.
That was, basically, my crime.
Lesson learned: I went to the wrong beach! There is a beach in Santa Cruz where dogs can be off-leash. Aliluya!!
REMINDER: OFF-LEASH HOURS
Its Beach:
NO DOGS 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Lighthouse Field:
On-leash only 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
See: http://www.folf.org/
Also, I asked some locals and they say the city of Santa Cruz is much less strict about leash mandate. So if you go to the city beach, like Seabright beach, it's much less strict and it's free.
See video of this beach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg-WFTBGOnk
I went to the State beach called Sea Cliff. Big mistake! I cannot believe I paid $6 to enter that beach. I want a refund!
I did a little research. Turns out the off-leash issue has been voiced many times in Santa Cruz by both sides.
I thought this article was interesting about the issue.
Cash-strapped Santa Cruz set to yield Lighthouse Field to state … maybe
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/March/13/local/stories/01local.htm
Oksana,
Thanks for sharing..All i can say is..welcome to
americahh.:)
Yeah… I see that you read my story. I think this country is based on the foundation of law, which is great. But then someone (who obviously has nothing else to do), turned that law into abuse, a formality, a reason to harass someone, a reason to enforce one's authority over a non-harmful civilian. .
It's like we are in the army all the time. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” This is the kind of reaction that was expected of me. Jump up and do it. “Put your dog on leash.” “Yes, sir…”
I don't remember anyone signing up for this. If terrorists wanted to spread terror in this country, I must say, they've done very well. Their soldiers are law enforcement people like Wilson. I sure felt terrorized…. for playing frisbee.