People can fight traffic tickets without paying fine first, Judicial Council says

Amid rising public clamor over drivers losing their licenses because of unpaid traffic tickets, the leaders of California’s court system voted unanimously Monday to end requirements that people pay the fines before being allowed to challenge them.
The new rule does not give relief to drivers who already have failed to attend their first court appearance because they couldn’t afford to pay or didn’t get a courtesy notice.
They will still have to bear the full cost of the violation before being allowed to challenge it. “Virtually every county in the state has been requiring full bail payment to contest a failure to appear,” said Michael Herald, legislative advocate for the Western Center on Law & Poverty, “and today’s rule does not help those clients overcome those problems.”

Read the full story at the LA Times