Don't worry, you can trust me. I'm not like the others.

Banned In China

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Special Plates and the Scarlet Letter

In Ohio the court's can issue special licence plates for people who are found guilty of OVI (what was drunk driving). I started to wonder what the purpose of those plates are. In reality the only purpose is to humiliate the driver.
You need to understand that it doesn't matter who owns the car. Whatever car the person who is convicted of drunk driving has to have the plates (absent a corporate car). So if a husband and wife only own one car in order for the drunk to drive it, it must have those special plates.
Therefore the person who did not commit the crime also has to drive with those plates.
Now all cops have immediate access to the history of the license plate by on car computers or by calling into the dispatcher. Therefore, what is the purpose of the plates? Merely to humiliate and nothing else. I even read that one of the state legislators actually said it would be like a "Scarlett Letter." Of course that would mean that no one in the legislature has actually read or understood the book.
Clearly, our legislature wants to go back to those early days of public humiliation so they can feel all warm and cosy about their brave stance against all things not acceptable to the middle class church goers.

No comments: