Legal Question in Traffic Law in South Carolina

Traffic Tickets

I watched a video that said a traffic ticket issued by a police officer is not a court summons because a summons must be

1) signed by a judge

2) delivered by a third party who files an affidavit saying it was delivered.

The video went on to suggest that the traffic court must enter a plea in order to have any case against you, but you do not have to plea because they do not have your

1) power of attorney

2) permission

3) consent

to enter a plea. They respond to this in writing and make it clear that entering a plea on your behalf is fraud and will be prosecuted as such. Basically, the video says that traffic ''offenses'' or ''violations'' are not crimes because no injury has been inflicted nor have any rights been violated. I have also seen videos suggesting the court has no standing to rule on these cases without the permission of the defendant.

What do you take of all this? Is it possible to simply send a reply letter stating that the court may not enter a plea & no summons has been presented so that you can avoid going to traffic court altogether? All charges dropped?


Asked on 8/17/08, 9:45 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Johnston Law Offices of Robert J. Johnston

Re: Traffic Tickets

I heard of a guy that told a judge once that he had no authority over him because he did not recognize the American flag. He refused to follow the judge's order and ended up in jail. I also heard of a guy that challenged the judge's authority because he heard somewhere that the judge must have his Oath of Office posted on a wall. Our legal system has been around for a couple hundred years and just about every trick, gimmick, ploy and challenge imaginable has been attempted. Who ever did those vidoes has certainly not read Section 56-5-1580 of the South Carolina Code which specifically validates the use of Uniform Traffic Summons and the form and manner of such use. That code section along with a host of others clearly impowers the use of traffic summons. My advice is to ignore those videos and do not take legal advice from the person that made them, nor take medical advise from them, nor take any other sort of professional advice without seeing a degree and verifying it is legitmate. Maybe taking advice on how to bake a cake might be safe.

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Answered on 8/17/08, 12:00 pm


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