The Legal System: Your Thoughts


The Founder

The Founder

Well-Known Member
Today I went and contested a speeding violation. After I stated my reasons the judge just required me to pay $25.

Well, a young man was taking a ticket to trial that was written by the Game Warden. The back story is he and friend were fishing and the Lt. Game Warden instructed his Sgt. to go check the young men out for fishing without a license. Well the two young men caught 7 fish which were red striped bass.

Under Louisiana regulations you are only allowed to catch 5. Remember they caught 7 and it was two young men.

Well when the Sgt. asked them about fishing one of the young men stated he was not fishing. He did not have license so he did not want to get a ticket. The other young with license said that he was fishing. Well he got a ticket for fishing and also another ticket for catching more than 5 red striped bass (five daily of which no more than two may exceed 30 inches in length).

Well he took it to trial and the Sgt. admitted that he did not see him fishing and the friend wrote a letter about the events but it was ruled heresay(sp). The young man of course had no legal training so he was found guilty.

The prosecutor asked the young man if he caught the fish and the young man stated over and over that he caught 5 fish.

He was sentenced to 6 months probation and fined $487 to be paid before September 28, 2016. If it is not paid he will face 6 months in jail plus an additional $300 in fines totaling $787.

I understand he broke the law but does the punishment fit the crime?
 



The Founder said:
Today I went and contested a speeding violation. After I stated my reasons the judge just required me to pay $25.

Well, a young man was taking a ticket to trial that was written by the Game Warden. The back story is he and friend were fishing and the Lt. Game Warden instructed his Sgt. to go check the young men out for fishing without a license. Well the two young men caught 7 fish which were red striped bass.

Under Louisiana regulations you are only allowed to catch 5. Remember they caught 7 and it was two young men.

Well when the Sgt. asked them about fishing one of the young men stated he was not fishing. He did not have license so he did not want to get a ticket. The other young with license said that he was fishing. Well he got a ticket for fishing and also another ticket for catching more than 5 red striped bass (five daily of which no more than two may exceed 30 inches in length).

Well he took it to trial and the Sgt. admitted that he did not see him fishing and the friend wrote a letter about the events but it was ruled heresay(sp). The young man of course had no legal training so he was found guilty.

The prosecutor asked the young man if he caught the fish and the young man stated over and over that he caught 5 fish.

He was sentenced to 6 months probation and fined $487 to be paid before September 28, 2016. If it is not paid he will face 6 months in jail plus an additional $300 in fines totaling $787.

I understand he broke the law but does the punishment fit the crime?
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I am not certain if it is the same in Louisiana but Texas Parks and Wildlife gets no funding from the state (per a conversation with a game warden) so they hardly ever give warning tickets. Any monies the get come from licenses, fees and fines. I know a game warden who was ticketed by another game warden for catching too many redfish. They hit their fellow game warden for $250.00 per fish AND they took the fish. They can also confiscate your gear and if the "crime" is egregious enough take your vehicle and boat. They are the only law enforcement entity that can enter your home looking for contraband without a warrant. Having said that I am not aware of abuse of that authority by game wardens. They rarely give warning citations.

I have been checked before but I always make certain I am legal and I do not keep more than the legal limit. It is tough sometimes because when those rascals are biting fast and furious (and that does not happen often) it is difficult to stop.

But, to answer your question...yes and no. The limits are for conservation so keeping that in mind...yes. But, a man with a rod and reel (in my opinion) cannot significantly impact fish populations because you have more bad days fishing than good so keeping that in mind...no. The other side of that coin is the professional fisherman (i.e. guides and commercial fishermen).
 
He actually got off light. When you get caught fishing or hunting breaking laws you get fined heavy. In fact as a wild life advocate I support it. Fish the limit and hunt only for food. Anything else deserves strict punishment.
 
Yea I'm actually putting an editorial together about the matter. I don't think the punishment fits the crime at all. I understand the conservation part of the matter but for a young man to come up with $400+ is insane. I think if the Game Warden would have broken down the punishment the friend would have accepted the ticket.
 
jsupop33 said:
Man,
Yall got a brother scared to go fishing.
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Don't be skurd. Just make sure you have your license...do not keep any under-sized or over-sized fish (unless regulations say you can)...do not catch over the limit. Not all species have catch limits. For instance in Texas there is no limit (size or quantity) on Croaker, Sand Trout or Whiting.
There are limits (size and quantity) Black Drum, Red Drum, Speckled Trout, Flounder...these are the more popular saltwater inshore species. Just pick up a Fishing Annual (they are free in Texas) and all of the info you need to stay legal is in there.

Went to the Galveston Fishing Pier once during the drum run. Caught my limit (5) in 45 minutes. It took me longer to drive to Galveston than it did to catch the fish. Those are the times it is hard to stop.
 
Herbert77060 said:
Don't be skurd. Just make sure you have your license...do not keep any under-sized or over-sized fish (unless regulations say you can)...do not catch over the limit. Not all species have catch limits. For instance in Texas there is no limit (size or quantity) on Croaker, Sand Trout or Whiting.
There are limits (size and quantity) Black Drum, Red Drum, Speckled Trout, Flounder...these are the more popular saltwater inshore species. Just pick up a Fishing Annual (they are free in Texas) and all of the info you need to stay legal is in there.

Went to the Galveston Fishing Pier once during the drum run. Caught my limit (5) in 45 minutes. It took me longer to drive to Galveston than it did to catch the fish. Those are the times it is hard to stop.
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I got busted fishing without a license when I first got to DC. My Southern accent got me off. He was like, yall probably can fish anywhere down in MS so I am just going to give you a warning.
 
The Founder said:
Yea I'm actually putting an editorial together about the matter. I don't think the punishment fits the crime at all. I understand the conservation part of the matter but for a young man to come up with $400+ is insane. I think if the Game Warden would have broken down the punishment the friend would have accepted the ticket.
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In Alabma it's a 250 fine and a 100 for each fish over. He broke the law and rules. Pay up.
 
The Founder said:
I just don't think the punishment fits the crime. Imagine not paying the $487 and spending time for 2 fish.
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I doubt he would do time for that offense. If he could not pay they would probably take his license and give him community service. They may even confiscate his gear if it was worth anything. Now if he had poached an endangered species he'd be looking at jail time.

If Louisiana is like Texas the way they make money is fees, licenses and fines so they are not likely to look the other way.
 
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If you over fish and over hunt you hurt the population. When you are a true out doorman you support the fines. If you do it in front of me I call the game warden. I have called on several folks white, black and Mexicans.

The Founder said:
I just don't think the punishment fits the crime. Imagine not paying the $487 and spending time for 2 fish.
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CEE DOG said:
If you over fish and over hunt you hurt the population. When you are a true out doorman you support the fines. If you do it in front of me I call the game warden. I have called on several folks white, black and Mexicans.
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I have called the game warden as well. Not for catching too many fish but for throwing a cast net off a pier where I was fishing. Pissed me off...just disrespectful. Found out it was not illegal unless he was catching speckled trout or any game fish actually. He hauled as when I pulled out my phone and I told him I was calling the game warden. He was catching something but I could not tell what it was.

On a side note: The reds are in and they killed them on the pier Monday night. I watched through the pier cam and the pier was packed.
 



I gotta get out that way and go fishing with you.

Herbert77060 said:
I have called the game warden as well. Not for catching too many fish but for throwing a cast net off a pier where I was fishing. Pissed me off...just disrespectful. Found out it was not illegal unless he was catching speckled trout or any game fish actually. He hauled as when I pulled out my phone and I told him I was calling the game warden. He was catching something but I could not tell what it was.

On a side note: The reds are in and they killed them on the pier Monday night. I watched through the pier cam and the pier was packed.
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The Founder said:
I understand you guys point but I just can't see a person getting locked up for catching 2 additional fish.
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One more time.....................I doubt he would do time for that offense.

Well, now that I think about it...he might do a weekend or 10 days but community service is probably the punishment he'd receive if he couldn't pay. Unless of course he is a repeat offender and I mean habitual repeat offender.
 
Herbert77060 said:
One more time.....................I doubt he would do time for that offense.

Well, now that I think about it...he might do a weekend or 10 days but community service is probably the punishment he'd receive if he couldn't pay. Unless of course he is a repeat offender and I mean habitual repeat offender.
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LOL...you don't know this judge.
 
The Founder said:
LOL...you don't know this judge.
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Touche'

I wish I could find the Facebook post of these Mexican brothers who caught about 9 over-sized redfish and one brother had the gall to post it on Facebook. Some one saw and called the game warden.
http://yestotexas.com/texas-game-warden-catches-lawbreaking-angler-on-facebook/
Scroll through the photos on this link and you will see him in court...LOL The ones he caught are breeding size and if you consider that they produce tens of millions of eggs per breeding season do the math. Now out of the eggs produced probably only about 10% (if that many) will live to breed themselves.
http://www.chron.com/news/article/T...rmous-red-drum-goes-4998568.php#photo-5494412
 
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Herbert77060 said:
Touche'

I wish I could find the Facebook post of these Mexican brothers who caught about 9 over-sized redfish and one brother had the gall to post it on Facebook. Some one saw and called the game warden.
http://yestotexas.com/texas-game-warden-catches-lawbreaking-angler-on-facebook/
Scroll through the photos on this link and you will see him in court...LOL The ones he caught are breeding size and if you consider that they produce tens of millions of eggs per breeding season do the math. Now out of the eggs produced probably only about 10% (if that many) will live to breed themselves.
http://www.chron.com/news/article/T...rmous-red-drum-goes-4998568.php#photo-5494412
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Man these two fish were no longer than my forearm. What was really interesting was the question the young man asked the Game Warden "what did you do with the fish when you confiscated them?" The Warden said he didn't remember...LOL
 
It doesn't matter how big they are. The limit is set for a reason . When you try to get over and don't follow the rules take what comes with it. Everyone who fish and hunt knows the rules. They chose to ignore them. I know dudes who had their boats confiscated, reels took and paid hefty fines for being over the limit. The daily limit was not set to be racist towards black people. It was set to stop over fishing and destroying nature.

The Founder said:
Man these two fish were no longer than my forearm. What was really interesting was the question the young man asked the Game Warden "what did you do with the fish when you confiscated them?" The Warden said he didn't remember...LOL
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CEE DOG said:
It doesn't matter how big they are. The limit is set for a reason . When you try to get over and don't follow the rules take what comes with it. Everyone who fish and hunt knows the rules. They chose to ignore them. I know dudes who had their boats confiscated, reels took and paid hefty fines for being over the limit. The daily limit was not set to be racist towards black people. It was set to stop over fishing and destroying nature.
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This is one area I can say the law is applied equally...LOL There was a white woman at Roll Over pass one year who caught more Flounder than the limit (5 fish except for Nov. when the limit is 2). She was fishing in November and she had about 10 Flounder. She raised plenty hell with the game warden but in the end she still got ticketed and the fish taken. White privilege does not extend to poaching.

I was fishing under the Galveston Causeway Bridge once and a guy and his wife came and were fishing next to me. I caught a small drum and threw it back. The guy said man I would have kept that. I said man I do not keep under-sized fish. About 5 minutes later the game warden came through (they are notorious for checking that area). He asked if I had any fish and I said no. He asked if he could look in my cooler and I said go ahead. It was empty like I told him. He asked for my license and I just smiled and gave it to him. Then he went to the guy and his wife. They had no fish but they had no license either...neither one of them. Yup, they both got tickets. After the game warden left and they were packing up to go I said, "See why I do not keep under-sized fish?".

Texas Law:
If you violate fish and wildlife laws, you may:
  • be fined (Class C - $25-$500; Class B - $200-$2,000; Class A - $500-$4,000; State Jail Felony, $1,500-$10,000);
  • be jailed (Class B and higher offenses);
  • face automatic suspension or revocation of licenses for up to five years;
  • forfeit hunting gear, including firearms, used to commit a violation.
Civil Restitution
In addition to the criminal penalty for hunting and fishing violations, the department will seek the civil recovery value for the loss or damage to wildlife resources. The civil restitution cost is payable to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and is in addition to the fine assessed by the court. Failure to pay the civil recovery value will result in the department's refusal to issue a license, tag or permit. An individual who hunts or fishes after the refusal commits a Class A misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine not less than $500 or more than $4,000; punishment in jail not to exceed one year; or both fine and confinement.

They do no not play mane!
 
So to all you hunters in Alabama; deer (bow) hunting season opens next month. If I see a deer on my property, I live in the county, do I need a license to kill it with my bow?
 
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