Quote:

Nobody would ever get a year, but I have seen first hand someone go to jail with the charge being the original parking violation. Off to jail and the car off to impound.

Of course the person just didn't know when to shut the fuck up.

Lets just say the deep South as a location, and I was not the person that was jailed. .



I think what you witness was the officer giving someone a parking violation but during the process of giving the parking violation, the officer witnessed or saw evidence of a more serious crime in plain sight in the car which may include drugs or weapon. In most states, if the officer asks to search your car and you decline, they can impound your car on "suspicion" and have probable cause due to the suspicion. At that time when the car is impounded they can search the car. In addition, after running the plates and/or driver's license, it was discovered that the person had an outstanding warrant separate from the citation.

There is not a state in the US that views a traffic violation anything more than an infraction. If traffic violations were deemed misdemeanors, it would have been overturned on appeal or ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.