Q: My son got a ticket for speeding and a driving without a licence when he was 16. We were never called and notified
He is now 18 almost 19 and recieved a call from the court that would have had jurisdiction if he had been an adult. The told him he had a warrent and had to pay them or he would be arrested, the court clerk also told him that they were just waiting until he turned 18 to issue a warrent. I understand that these matters need to be handled promptly but this is not how it should have been handled. Is there a law that prohibits harassment from the courts in such a manner. Shouldnt he have been adjudicated as a minor, we didnt recieve any notices, letters, statements, order to show cause, summons, or anything of that nature from the Juvenile Court or the municipal court the ticket would have come from. correct me if Im wrong but arent juvenile records not a matter of public record and therefore sealed. Wouldnt that be a violation of privacy laws. Im not a lawyer but I know my rights as well as the rights my children have. What actions can we take in this matter.
A: When you are pulled over for a traffic violation, the officer usually writes information on a citation and the driver has to sign that, which contains a promise to appear, in lieu of being immediately arrested, taken to jail and the car impounded. Most people sign rather than go to jail. That promise to appear is all the notice that the driver is entitled to, although some courts send "courtesy notices" because the don't want to do the processing for the arrest warrant that can issue when the driver fails to appear. From your description, none of your son's rights were violated and he has an arrest warrant in the system because of his failure to appear. I recommend you contact several attorneys in your area that practice this type of law, as soon as possible. Thank you for using Justia ask a lawyer.
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