Courthouses: The Vestige of the Haggling in America

               Something we lack in the American system is haggling. There is not an abundance of shops and stores where growing up we get to practice the fine art of getting lower prices on our goods. In major cities with street vendors we get to taste a little bit of the elation of getting a good deal on something, or getting swindled for not being aggressive enough. We usually just get swindled and pay too much at retail stores. There is one place I have discovered however, that the art of haggling is not just alive and well, but the norm of operation… the courthouse.

                I was in court a couple months ago, after getting arrested for driving on a suspended license, which should not have been suspended. I brought the proof that my ticked was not outstanding at the time hoping to get the charge dropped. As a side note here, apparently if you are a day late paying an out of state ticket, the state that issues your license is notified immediately, but when you pay it, there is not rush whatsoever to make that notification! The public defender told me it would be dropped no problem, and then told me that she would try and reduce my speeding ticket as well (the reason that I got pulled over). I had no intention of contesting the speeding ticket, I was guilty of it, so I was surprised at first. During the court session, I was second to last to stand in front of the judge. I realized that not one, not one, of the defendants who got up in front of me pleaded guilty to the original charge. There was banter between the assistant district attorney and the public defender with every case called up, and an agreement reached to lower the charge.

                I was unaware that this type of hagglingwas not just common, but the rule.  So of course I think of the street sellers who know the lowest price they will part with a product for, and how they give the original asking price considerably higher than that to leave room for appearing to give a deal. This in turn makes me wonder, does the legal system do this? Do they think, well if I charge a person with this crime, they will get it reduced to a lesser one? When I was put in jail for AUO (aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle), did they know that I would not get charged with it? I believe they did. I found there are numerous degrees of driving with a suspended license, and AUO is the worst. What did I do to get charged with the worst of these types of infractions? I don’t know. Other than they had the knowledge that it would get pleaded down to a lesser charge. Fortunately I was actually innocent and had proof, leading the judge to dismiss the charge ‘in the name of justice’ (his words). The speeding ticket was also reduced to a two point moving violation, without me even asking. I found it strange.