anthonyqkiernan
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"I hope your proud..."
May 17, 2006, 19:43
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SSP MSP not sent to prison for non-payment of fine
http://tinyurl.com/jnmqc
I hope you are proud of your contempt of the law and of the Scottish legal system.
I hope so too. What gets me is (and I don't expect anyone to be an expert on Scots law), ddoes this mean that anyone can refuse tto pay a fine for 'political' reasons? Has a legal precedent been set? Now, that would be something to be proud of.
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PMM
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I just knew it would be Rosie Kane.
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anthonyqkiernan
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I had a very obscene dream about her a few months ago. Imagine my embarassment when I met her a fe days later. Especially since I couldn't tell her why I was being do edgy. Y'know that would be reinforcing the patriarcal hegemony, an' that
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Re: (PMM) | |
Replies:
Re: (PMM)
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PMM
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Nah. Fuck it. You should be proud to have politicians that stand for something other than the usual bollocks. We try in England and end up with George Galloway. I know the SSP have had to compromise to some extent as they've gained a modicum of power, but I'd struggle to name an English equivalent, who'd be prepared to go to jail for their beliefs.
In reply to:
Re: (anthonyqkiernan) |
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Merrick
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precedent
May 18, 2006, 01:07
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As I understand it, legal precedent is only set if a judgement is made and then upheld on appeal. In this case, Rosie was found guilty; what she did remains a crime, all that's happened is she got a remarkably light sentence.
People have long been refusing to pay fines for politcal cases. Usually you do a bit of jail for it. How much depends on the amount you owe and what magistrate you get. For a few hundred quid one person might get 7 days, another might just get told to sit at the back of the court till the end of the day (and as magistrates like to knock off early, that's usually not too long).
Peace activists I know have this down to a fine art. Try to hand yourself in to urban courts (being used to proper crime they give lighter sentences for activists comparitively lightweight stuff). If you're likely to get 7 days, hand yourself in on a Wednesday; with 50% remission you'll serve three and a half days, but they can't release you on a weekend so they have to release you early, which means Friday. As they tend to release first thing in the morning, a well-timed '7 day' sentence can be less than 48 hours.
It wipes out your fine, but not any compenation order. However, I don't know of any case where a non-paying activist has had a compensation order chased up.
Didn't Tommy Sheridan get nicked at Faslane too? Wonder if he ever came to court and if so what happened.
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anthonyqkiernan
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Re: precedent
May 18, 2006, 10:06
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He's been in and out of court so much I've lost track. Most of them have. He did serve time for non-payment of Poll Tax, though.
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