> ...some courts in the SF area to make you pay the ticket before you can contest it (read this somewhere, not sure 100% on truthfulness of it)
Yea, that's false.
Yea, that's false.
It's cleverly and obviously intentional practice that plays on people's time to defend themselves being worth more than the discounted price.
-Go to court and plead not guilty: send the bail amount, wait for your court date. If found not guilty, you get some $$ back. If guilty, pay the fine amount (less bail).
-Plead guilty/no contest via mail: send them the bail amount, they keep the $$ (bail forfeiture).