In my previous post, I noted that the ACLU has finally entered the fray which I dusted up years ago about the illegality of the traffic court judges charging traffic citation defendants "bail" before they would give them a trial.  I fought it successfully, case-by-case, with pro bono appeals and motions, but I could not get the courts to wake up to the constitutional evils of the scheme. I wrote a former chief justice, a former presiding judge, and even the ACLU.  The two judges had their law clerks pen patronizing explanations of why the illegal scheme was legal with such deficient arguments that I would have fired the law clerks.  But then, I know the law - their bosses obviously didn't. And the ACLU could not then be bothered.

Then, for whatever reason, the ACLU entered the fray, after millions of $s have been extorted from people to deprive them of their right to trial, and now the chief justice has denounced the practice. The chief wrote what I have been claiming for decades: https://www.aclunc.org/blog/ca-chief-justice-agrees-traffic-courts-can-t-charge-fees-advance-trial

The question now is what do we do about all of the money previously extorted, and about the judges who did the extorting?  i don't see how judges who clearly violated the Constitution and statutory law by extorting money from people to "give" them the trial to which the Constitution entitles them can stay on the bench. Any judge who does not know it is unconstitutional to condition giving a trial in a criminal matter on the pre-payment of the fine does not deserve to be a judge in this Republic; those who know the illegality and participate in it nonetheless are even worse and should not only lose their robes but also their Bar membership.