The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

–Martin Luther King, Jr. (1956), after the Montgomery Bus Boycott

For the first part of “Cashing the Check of Justice”–including some backstory and advice–go here.

The second part can essentially be summarized as follows:

The ticket was issued in February 2019. The trial took place in April. My appeal was submitted in June. The State conceded its case in July. Final judgment was rendered by Somerset Superior Court on July 31, 2019. Payment received after several phone calls: December 7, 2019. I still have to apply to the court for legal permission to publish the decision here under this rule.

My wife, ever the skeptic: “So how much money did you spend to get a $239 refund check?” Well, $660 for an attorney for my municipal trial, $200 for the municipal court transcript, and nearly $100 in miscellaneous costs, including duplication of my appeals brief in triplicate, appeals court fees, etc. I also spent $85 on a driving class between the conviction and the final appellate judgment to erase the points on my license. And then of course the $206 fine and $33 in court costs at the municipal level, which I got back. So yeah, it put me about $1,000 in the hole.

Fiat justitia ruat caelum. Within limits.  This, too: