I agree with all the others. Your excuse for speeding is lame, lame, lame.
Why not just pay the ticket and take your lumps?
If you do go to court, then dress well no matter what the gender presentation. If you wear a suit, male or female, you should be OK. Try to show respect for the court.
Stephie
I'd pay the fine and move on. Definately do not try the judge's patience with an excuse.
:brolleyes: Looking at several of the responses, I'm thinking I should of just simply asked "is it ok to go to court en femme" without including my reason for asking
I only gave details in order to state why I was asking the question... All I wanted answers on was whether or not it's ok to go to court en femme, nothing else.
The only thing I want a response on is the actual question asked in the thread title.
Hi
I am with the do not go to court enfem crowd the judge could decide thet you were in contemt of court and add additional fines and or Jail time. Remember Contempt of Court is what ever the Judge decides is contempt and He or She can pass what ever sentance they wish
So I would avoid this possability
as for the DL photo mine here in MD is feminine looking odds are good you wont be asked to show it. As for the bad battery deff I would drop that and go for the I did not realize I was over the Limit or better yet contact the clerk of the courts office ans see if you can just pay up and not have to appear .this should be agreeable to them cause of tha time saving to all and they get the Money and can add a conviction to there Coup stick.
Huggs Annette
"It takes more courage for a man to appear in public wearing a dress than to charge into battle"
Me July 2005 :D
The simple answer is " yes you can go en fem but why take the risk " whatever you believe you are you still run the risk of being looked at as a cross dresser or being identified as female and want special treatment , nether will go down well .
And if you take that attitude in court you will not have a hope in hell of getting off.
Last edited by Joanne f; 02-04-2011 at 02:27 PM.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Joanne
Of course it is okay. Just have your purse ready.
Hi Lita
Only go enfemme if you are transitioning and can prove it ( contact the court and explain first )
Other than this reason go in drab
As being raised in company of a Judge, several friends who were attorneys, I suggest this.
Pay the ticket. You were breaking the law with no real reason except you might have to "walk"
If walking in that area endangerd you life or limb, then that's a reasonable defense.
Remember where you're going, to the "Kings Court" when there, speak the "King's English" and dress like you're going to Church.
I suggest a coat and tie unless your license say's you're female, dress en-drabbe[male]
Also, the first time you go to court on items of this nature[in most states] are to plead, you'll get no sympathy from this visit, if you plead "not guilty" then a trial date will be set up.
Again, in most states you have a choice of trials, by Jury or Judge.
Remember the vast majority of the Judicial System are Right Wing Conservative types.
Best of Luck
Yolanda
Last edited by Yolanda_Voils; 02-04-2011 at 03:14 PM.
Ok, so to answer your real question,
You should dress as best as you can, for the gender you represent everyday.
I say this because, no matter which court in the US you go to you will not be the first person to appear in front of that judge as a TG/TS/TM......
As circuit judges they have seen the very worst of the dirge of society to the everyday person to the the corporate types......
Your case and whether you have just cause for dismissal should be advised by an attorney in you area.
Your local defense attorney would have much information to offer in this subject. As he has undoubtedly worked with cases similar to this
Regardless of which gender you choose to go in, dress appropriately and drop the excuse for speeding, it won't work. Since your ID shows you as a woman, I would think it appropriate for you to dress in agreement with your ID.
I think Chickhe's suggestion is best. It's pretty certain that you're going to end up paying for speeding, so apologize and see if you can get the minimum fine assessed.:2c:
Good luck!
Carol
My name is Carol.
So to address your actual question, of course you can. Go to court dressed appropriately to your identification. In any case, male or female, wear a suit or "business casual" if you don't have a suit.
S
I have to agree with Mary...being dressed to court is no problem as it is on your licenseOriginally Posted by Mary Morgan
...so the judge would see that it is a big part of your life. I would try to get the reduced, and yes...start shopping for driving class!
Hi Lita,
I am in the UK, so I have very little knowledge of the US court system, but the reason many of us "bigged it up" over the response you want is that in a court perception is critical... so it is not wise to see going dressed as a seperate issue from how you broke the law. technically you broke the law and I agree with others your ideas for mitigation won't get taken seriously and could damage your defence as a) wasting court time and b) trying to decieve and pervert the course of justice. In my experience, this does not work in your favour. What you need to do to achieve the best outcome is to win hearts and minds. Accept what has happened, and present as an exemplary citizen who has just made a small error of judgement, but one that could have had profound results (the stats say there is a link between speed and death in an accident).
Now the question is... will going dressed increase your credibility and perceived willingness to learn from from your actions? or not?
The gamble here I suspect is who the judge/magistrate(s) are and what their perception of CDing is.
If you were the judge... and I don't mean literally YOU, but put yourself in the mind of who is likely to be there... what would you think?
You will not get off this... the fact that it has got to court means that they will need to reimburse court costs... what impact will being there dressed have on the perception of those whose judgement you are facing?
I know what I'd do, but you won't like the answer!
Kaz xx
__________________________________________________ ____________
This Woman Within is Flying without Wings
In that case, yes.
I woulda just chalked it up to bad luck, and paid the stupid ticket. Good luck in court.
By the way, I doubt the judge will care one way or the other how you're dressed, as long as he knows you're not making a mockery of him or his courtroom.
Any money found in the laundry is MINE!
"This is no social crisis....this is me having fun!"
www.flickr.com/photos/tgmarla/
Hello Lita,
My comments are telling it like it is, and are not meant to be negative.
Your excuse about battery charging does not hold water. An hour or two of driving at legal secondary road speeds (80 km/h or 50 mph in Canada) runs the engine fast enough for the alternator to deliver its full rated output and charge the battery fully. Besides, a trickle charger will charge the battery in two days from completely flat if it will accept a charge.
You'll have to take your lumps on this one regardless of how you dress, I'm afraid.
Your excuse is horrible and you have an almost zero chance of winning. If you are transitioning or want to show off go dressed. Wear something conservative, the courtroom s not the place to show a lot of skin. You wil get bonus points if you ask the prosecutor (when the court is not in session) "Does this skirt make my butt look big."
I would suggest go in drab but nicely. There will be reactions from others in the court regardless of whether or not the judge is OK with it. Also the advice about the technical details of battery charging is quite accurate. Don't ever try to BS anyone in a court system about car mechanics.
I had my case of a HVAC contractor suing me for stopping payment on a check I wrote where he delivered defective service dismissed. In my case the judge informed the plaintiff that he had worked his way through law school repairing HVAC systems and knew I was telling the truth and the contractor was lying. It also gave the judge and courtroom some humorous time when I had evidence that I bought the correct parts after the techs repair failed and even loaned the tech my tools as his were not on the truck.
I suggest you go in drab but wear a short wig. After all, men can have long hair. The excuse for speeding to charge the car battery is lame - you could have spun the engine at a higher RPM by shifting to a lower gear.
Johanna
Last edited by JohnH; 02-04-2011 at 10:22 PM.
John (Legal name)
Preferred pronouns: He, him, his
In my experience it would be in your best interests to go to court dressed in a suit and tie. Show respect for the system, even if you don't actually feel that way about it.
Any disrespect will lead to a harsher sentence, and I don't see oyu beating this one.
Very simple answer. Most states let you pay the court costs and take defensive driving. That avoids the fine and you get an insurance discount. The only other anser is to hire a lawyer and have him get you off which costs more money.
You are going to pay the court costs anyway, so why go in fem and risk antagonizing the judge. Just go in and pay the fine. If you don't have the money at the moment talk to the court clerk and see if you can get a delay.
Lita,
in the endgame, the only thing I care about is the consequences of a bad ruling.
Let's say I get caught speeding. the only thing that matters is that my car insurance goes up exponentially because of a speeding ticket.
I've faced many times in a courtroom for driving offenses, there is nothing worse than to have to sit for three to four hours with a bunch of pothead knuckledraggers while I wait to stand in front of a judge.
How I'm dressed means nothing.
I'd just show up ahead of time and pay the ticket off. And that way dressing en femme wouldn't be as much of an issue since you wouldn't be appearing before the judge.
But I would not advise appearing before the judge that way. The main reason is that you may get a judge that would see that as a bad thing, and what may have been a minimal penalty will become a maximum.
Last edited by Schatten Lupus; 02-04-2011 at 11:19 PM.
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
Good point---since the OP obviously edited her original post because she didn't like the answers she heard here, I'm not going to waste my time and hers telling her how to beat a speeding rap.
However, I have been a lawyer for 30+ years and during the first half of my career represented many people in court charged with various offences and gave my clients lots of advice on what to wear and how to act in court. If you are transitioning and live full time as a woman, then you are what you are and it's ok to go to court that way----most judges would not have a problem with it so long as you dressed and act appropriately---conservative pantsuit or skirt and blouse, moderate makeup, no sky scrapper heels etc---in other words don't dress like a hooker but femme is ok if you are in fact living full time as a woman.
If, on the other hand, you cross dress once in a while and are not presenting as a lady on a full time basis, its best to appear in court as the gender you normally present to the public, not what you do two or three nights a month at a local mall, TG bar etc---if you do, the judge may get the idea that you are disrespecting him or her and you may find yourself in contempt of court and even if you are not found in contempt, remember the judge has discretion in setting the amount of the fine--you do not want to piss him or her off--they can enlarge the fine on a whim if they want. BTW I am curious as to whether your defense, speeding to recharge the battery so you won't be stranded would work---come back to this page and let us know what happened.
[SIZE="4"][/SIZE]
Wear your best Lady Gaga outfit, and explain to the judge: You just picked up a kosher ham at the store, and needed to stop at the airport to pick up a 5 gallon bucket of prop wash. The cur-vain valve on your car must have malfunctioned, causing the muffler bearing to over rev, increasing your speed. See how the Judge responds.
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