This article has been updated by highwayrobbery.net, to 9-25-12. Those edits/comments are in square brackets. [ ] Fine mess? Traffic scofflaws in Alameda County discover two types of justice By Matthew Artz Oakland Tribune Posted: 11/16/2011 08:27:23 AM PST Updated: 11/16/2011 08:27:35 AM PST Click photo to enlarge Commissioner Nancy Lonsdale presides over traffic ticket arraignments at the Fremont. For years, it has been [was] easy to save big money on traffic tickets in Alameda County -- just know which courtroom to visit and which to avoid. A traffic commissioner in Pleasanton often chops [chopped] more than $100 off most speeding tickets and nearly $400 off certain red light tickets. Meanwhile, in Fremont, another commissioner routinely forces [forced] defendants to pay hefty fines instead of granting community service. In multiple visits to Alameda County traffic courts, this newspaper found that the two commissioners used far more discretion than their peers, saving or costing defendants hundreds of dollars in traffic fines. Despite concern from police chiefs, court watchers and nonprofits who depend on community service sentences, court officials have refused to explain how the commissioners can use such discretion. The difference often is so great that one red light camera foe, Roger Jones, sometimes hangs around the Fremont courthouse to advise offenders to take their tickets to Pleasanton. But that strategy is about to end. As part of a cost-saving consolidation beginning Friday, the court is placing both commissioners in Fremont, where traffic violators will no longer have control over whether they will face the easy judgment of John Porter [who has retired] or no-nonsense justice of Nancy Lonsdale [who may have retired]. Instead, the roughly 30,000 annual traffic ticket cases south of San Leandro will be randomly assigned among three commissioners -- including Porter and Lonsdale -- potentially resulting in much different types of justice under one roof. "You could wind up with one person getting a $110 fine and another person in the same courthouse on the same day getting fined $480 with no chance at community service for committing the same offense," Jones said. "How is that fair?" Justice on the cheap At 7 a.m. on a recent Friday the line outside the Pleasanton courthouse already was filled with dozens of accused red light runners, carpool lane violators and speeders waiting to settle their tickets. For most, the trip to Porter's courtroom was worth the inconvenience. [Porter has retired.] Porter, who keeps a collection of toy cars and trucks on his bench, isn't just the most courteous traffic commissioner in Alameda County, he is by far the most lenient. A stop sign violation will cost offenders $234 in just about any traffic court in the county. In Porter's courtroom the fine is typically $110. Similarly discounted fines are granted for speeding, driving without a license and talking on a cellphone. But the real winners are folks caught on a red light camera failing to come to a complete stop before turning right. That's a $480 fine, but not in Porter's courtroom, where it's just $110 -- a major loss for city, county and state governments that collect a share of fine revenue. "Commissioner Porter just seems like a really great guy," said John Cooper, a San Ramon resident, who brought him a red light ticket he got in Newark. "For every case that went before him, he asked questions and did whatever he could to make the fine as low as possible." For one defendant facing more than $1,000 in irreducible fines, Porter said, "Let me give you a bit of advice, which I'm not supposed to do. I'd recommend that you set the matter for trial. If you get real lucky, the officer won't show up, and you'll be found not guilty." Leeway in traffic court While lawmakers have chipped away at judges' ability to use discretion in most criminal matters, traffic commissioners, who are typically lawyers appointed by judges to handle minor cases, still have a fair amount of leeway when it comes to lowering fines. However, there are several offenses -- including running a red light or driving in the carpool lane -- where the fines are set by the state and can't be lowered. Porter won't lower fines for driving through a red light, but the survey by this newspaper found that unlike every other full-time traffic commissioner in the county, Porter goes easier on offenders caught on camera failing to stop while making a right turn on red. His reasoning, as he said last month in court, is that "a right turn at a red light is a violation of a different section of the Vehicle Code in my opinion, which doesn't carry a maximum fine." For those tickets, Porter actually dismisses the violation submitted by police, then charges defendants under a section that typically applies to drivers who come to a complete stop and then make a right turn on red at intersections with a "No Turn on Red" sign. [There is some question as to whether the fine for the original section cited can or cannot be lowered. In San Mateo County they lower the fines by $100 for everyone who shows up at arraignment. Without changing the section.] "No one understands why he uses that section," Newark police Chief Jim Leal said. "He is technically changing the section to the wrong section in an effort to reduce the fine." Porter declined multiple interview requests, saying through his bailiff that he had not received approval to speak publicly from Jon Rolefson, presiding judge of the Alameda County Superior Court. Rolefson's office also refused to comment and said it was unable to respond to a public records request seeking data on penalties imposed by individual traffic commissioners. Two years ago, Porter was transferred from Fremont to Pleasanton, which doesn't have red light cameras. But he still handles his share of red light cases thanks in part to Jones, a retired Fremont resident, who started observing traffic courts last year after receiving a red light ticket. "Porter is by far the most generous to defendants," Jones said. So, this year, Jones unveiled the "Porter Strategy." Nearly every morning before the Fremont Hall of Justice opens at 8 a.m., Jones walks up and down the line of traffic offenders and advises people with right-turn-on-red violations to go to Porter's courthouse in Pleasanton. "I just feel like he was this little angel that dropped in front of me," said Yuri Mok, an Oakland resident, who heeded Jones' advice and saw her red light camera ticket reduced from $480 to $110. No community service In Fremont, the newspaper's survey found that Commissioner Lonsdale [who may have retired] is the only full-time traffic commissioner in the county who routinely refuses to grant community service, which is only available to unemployed and part-time workers. Instead she usually opts for the highest possible fines. Her policy not only has consequences for the county's poorest residents, it has dramatically reduced the volunteer pool for several Fremont and Newark-based nonprofits that depend on court-mandated community service volunteers. The Tri-Cities League of Volunteers saw a nearly sixfold decline in its court-mandated community service hours after Lonsdale took over Fremont and Newark traffic cases this year, complicating its annual Thanksgiving turkey giveaway and forcing employees to take on additional work, the nonprofit's Joanne Paletta said. Tri-City Volunteers, which runs Fremont's largest food bank, lost so many court-mandated community service volunteers that it sent employees to different courthouses this year to recruit potential volunteers. Neither group knew why their volunteer ranks had shriveled until Jones paid them a visit. After several nonprofits complained, Lonsdale decided to reconsider. "My intention wasn't to hurt the nonprofits, it was to get people to stop committing traffic violations," she said in a recent interview. Lonsdale, however, still often rejects community service requests. "I don't think most people see community service as a punishment," she said. "I think it's a privilege." Rory Little, a professor at Hastings College of the Law, said the commissioners need to work out a more evenhanded system. "The community is badly served if the impression is that justice is random and uneven," he said. But Lonsdale said justice would suffer "if you took away the bench officer's discretion to do what they thought was appropriate. That would bother me more than two people getting different fines." Contact Matthew Artz at 510-353-7002. DISCOUNT JUSTICE? Bay Area News Group visited Traffic Commissioner John Porter's courtroom three times over the past three months and discovered he routinely lowered fines for a variety of traffic violations. Traffic Violation Standard fine Porter's typical fine Stop sign $234 $110 Cellphone $160 $110 Right turn on red $480 $110 Speeding up to 15 mph over limit $234 $125 VOLUNTEER SHORTAGE The Newark-based Tri-Cities League of Volunteers has experienced a nearly sixfold decrease in court-mandated community service volunteer hours since Commissioner Nancy Lonsdale began presiding over local traffic ticket cases early this year. 9,145 Hours from March 1 to Sept. 20, 2010 1,581 Hours from March 1 to Sept. 20, 2011 Source: Tri-Cities League of Volunteers