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Man May Get Jail for Parking Ticket Comment By The Associated Press The computer programmer from Allen Park got the ticket May 29. When Militzer wrote the check to Berkley District Court, he scribbled on the memo line, ''BULL SHIT MONEY GRAB.'' That got Militzer an in-person court appearance -- on a contempt of court charge. He's scheduled to go before a judge Wednesday, accompanied by an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who will argue Militzer's remark is protected by the First Amendment. Militzer, 38, was ticketed for parking in front of a friend's house overnight. He said he obeyed signs prohibiting parking between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. during previous visits, but the signs weren't there the morning he was cited. ''I thought they were gaming me, collecting fines without giving people a fair chance to avoid it,'' Militzer told The Detroit News. ''If the sign had been there, I knew what the law was. I would take my lumps and move on.'' Militzer said he realized the off-color notation ''didn't solve anything.'' But, he added, ''It let them know I felt they were being unfair.'' Richard Eshman, Berkley's public safety director, said Militzer could have requested a hearing to argue against the ticket. ''There's an avenue for protesting that kind of thing,'' he said. ACLU lawyer Elsa Shartsis said Militzer's ''choice of words may not be the best, and it may offend some people, but it's not illegal.'' Man
Jailed for Claiming Killer Past, New York Lawyer A man made a mockery of the justice system when he tried to get removed from a jury pool in a death penalty case by claiming he is a heroin addict and a killer, a judge said. Benjamin Ratliffe, 21, of Columbus, Ohio, was charged with contempt of court and obstruction of justice and ordered to spend a night in jail. Ratliffe filled out a questionnaire form for potential jurors and professed to having a "bad jonesin' for heroin." When asked if he had ever fired a weapon, he wrote, "Yes. I killed someone with it, of course. Right." Ratliffe doesn't believe in the death penalty and wanted to be excused from the trial, said his attorney, Scott Weisman. The potential jurors were being screened for the trial of Quarran S. Covington, who is charged with aggravated murder in the slayings of two Georgia men in May 2005. In court, witnesses said, Ratliffe shrugged his shoulders when questioned by Covington's attorney and refused to answer any questions seriously. On Thursday, Ratliffe apologized to Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie M. Lynch, who had ordered him to jail the day before. "He didn't try to defend his responses, and he lied under oath, and he was insubordinate," said Lynch, who ultimately removed Ratliffe from the jury pool and dismissed the charges against him. "You do not make a mockery of the process."
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A Feast
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