My Hands Are Tied
The picture below is Corry Stevens, as published in the Citizens' Voice Newspaper on 03-27-1987, when he was a State Representative.
Mr. Corry Stevens, is now a high court judge. When he started his legal career, more or less began as a solicitor for Hazleton. This pertains to my involvement with him as solicitor.
This posting is temporary in that the City Clerk, recently, was forced to resign and I have a delay in getting copies of ordinances.
From memory and old, personal records:
I guess the "normal" routine of issuing tickets, either for "abandoned" vehicles or, for No Parking, was accepted, by both citizens and police, as the way things were done for years. No one questioned how things were done or the amounts to be paid. During the middle of 1979, after receiving hundreds of tickets, (as documented at my trial over 800), I went to the City Clerk's Office to get copies of the relevant Ordinances.
Several things became obvious. The city, in whole or in part, was not following their own mandates. It listed precise protocol on how to hire someone to tow vehicles for the city. Also, the exact, separate amounts for fines, towing costs (which included storage). (From the time the Ordinance was passed, the "tickets" were revised three times up to 1979 while the Ordinance was not revised.)
When Mr. Stevens was solicitor, I went to his office with my findings. As a review, I stated the following: Three towing companies, used at the time, were never legally hired by the city. They were never officially approved. They were not bonded and they didn't have an approved impound area with a fence. (Separate area leased to the city for that purpose.) Furthermore, they are charging more than the said rate for towing and storage.
The Ordinance read in relevant part" "...ten dollars for towing and storage."
One point I kept stressing is that the towing agencies were committing fraud and charging illegal amounts and doing so for years by charging more than the said rate for towing and additional, separate charges for storage.
What did Mr. Stevens say? "What do you want me to do?" I told him to shut down the towing agencies until they get hired according to the Ordinance. He said in reply, "...I can't do that...my hands are tied". At one point I let him see one of the tickets I brought with me. He replied, "The ticket doesn't list an amount for storage...they can charge what they want." I replied, "Read the bottom of the ticket. A ticket has no force or effect of law. It only gives "notice" to the Ordinance which has the effect of law. The city changed the tickets but didn't have the Ordinance changed. What is written on the face of the Ordinance is important". At one point he again asked me what I wanted him to do. I replied, "Do your job"!
What was the quick fix? Shortly before the meeting I had with Stevens, Ecker and I had a big argument over the amounts he was charging. The city had new tickets printed as seen below. The new batch of tickets, the wording was sanitized. When the new set of tickets were printed, (at least the third revision since the Ordinance was enacted) before the ink was dry, I received the first six in consecutive order. Seen below is Ticket "No. 01". (With the new tickets, Ecker Towing was charging me $50 dollars for towing and additional charges for storage.) That prompted me to research the matter by obtaining copies of several, relevant ordinances, contracts, job descriptions and such.
Look at the dates on the tickets.
What else was written in the Ordinance? A vehicle has to be "abandoned" for a period of 48 hours before a pink ticket was issued. (That means at least two separate shifts had to report the same condition.) Then, a certified letter had to be sent to the last known owner and wait five days. After that the vehicle could be towed.
What was done in my case? All the due process was ignored. It got to a point tickets weren't even issued. Vehicles just towed. See Opinion listed below.
Opinion
What did Mr. Steven's actions and posture indicate? "Look, Mr. Stanziola, I'm just starting my professional career. Being a solicitor is a stepping stone for bigger and better things. Here in Hazleton, I have to show the boys I can play ball and cooperate with expected political agendas. As solicitor, I'm just a puppet, the official political mascot. After all, this is Mob City. My hands are tied." (That phrase, "my hands are tied", is one I never forgot.)
As mentioned, this is a tentative posting. I plan to update this with copies of the Ordinances.
Updated: 12-18-2001