The Forbidding Archivist

Y'know what annoys me most?
Hidden taxes. Especially hidden taxes that actually hamper the proceedings of justice.

In May 2010, our soon-to-be-former governor Sonny Perdue signed HB 1055. This seemingly innocuous bill does one thing; it raises the fees on licenses available throughout the whole of GA. Pest control licenses, building licenses, articles of incorporation - they all get their fees increased. Most people would say "So what? Every state is going through a crunch. They want to increase their revenue any which way possible."

Ah, but it's the court fees that are the injustice. They've raised all the court fees here in Georgia. Formerly, to file a civil case in the Superior or State Courts of Georgia, you shelled out $87.50. The price now? $204.00.

Yes, you read that correctly. $204.00

To file in Magistrate's Court? In Gwinnett, it's now $100.00.
Need to have the Sheriff serve some papers? $50.00
Get an uncertified copy of something from the Clerk? Gone from $0.25 to $0.50. per page.

"Oh, OK." you say. "It's just higher fees, though. Yeah, I'm going to pay through the nose, but how does that hinder justice?" Well, let me ask you. Can you ever think of a reason where you might need to file an appeal? When you file an appeal in state appeals court or the Georgia Supreme Court, your appeal will often be approximately 1-2000 pages long and consists mainly of copies of the previous record. Formerly, it cost $1.50/page to copy a page from the previous record, thus causing your appeal to approximately cost $1500-3000. The cost to copy a page from the record has gone to $10/page. Yes, $10/page. That means the documentation for your appeal alone will cost you approximately $10000-20000.

Think about that for a second. Think about all the miscarriages of justice that have required appeals. Think about the appeals necessary to challenge a bad law. Think about all the items

The lawyers aren't going to pay this for you. They have no choice but to pass on the fees to the consumer. Going it alone won't help as the fees will still be there and you will still have to pay them BEFORE getting your day in court. And the majority of this money, no matter if it's a state, county, or municipal court, is going to the STATE government. As revenue.

Something to think about.