Judge Tangle with Traffic Court

choi

In my Oct 18 posting "How Seedy Fruits Attract (Animal) Eaters" I wrote "owls, being nocturnal, are the only birds that are color blind for all colors."

I was mistaken. Owls' retinas have rod and few cones. Cones need bright light to see colors. Rods function in dim light to see black, white and shades of gray in between -- and these are what owls see. Though from physics point of view: "When light falls on an object, some of it is absorbed and some is reflected. The apparent color of an opaque object depends on the wavelength of the light that it reflects; eg, a red object observed in daylight appears red because it reflects only the waves producing red light [ie, wave of red light]. * * * An opaque object that reflects all wavelengths appears white; one that absorbs all wavelengths appears black. Black and white are not generally considered true colors; black is said to result from the absence of color, and white from the presence of all colors mixed together."  from the Web.

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James V Grimaldi and Alexa Corse, Very Swift Justice: Judge Tangle with Traffic Court; Newly minted Ninth Circuit appointee has at least 28 traffic citations. Wall Street Journal, Oct 20, 2018 (front page).
https://www.wsj.com/articles/rus ... fic-cops-1539964281

Quote:

"Ryan D Nelson is a man in a hurry—really, in a hurry.  It's not just that Mr. Nelson, an Idaho attorney, has leapfrogged over the US District Court bench [that is, he did not serve first as a district judge, but became a circuit judge directly in a court of appeals] to garner President Trump's lifetime appointment to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals [based on San Francisco].  Mr Nelson also has been cited for speeding a dozen times [a swell as other traffic violations, altogether 28 times] over the past two decades * * * Mr Nelson has no prior experience as a judge, but he’s no stranger to traffic courts. Mr Nelson has received at least 28 traffic citations over the past two decades, and was found or pleaded guilty in about two-thirds of those cases, paying more than $1,300 in fines, court records show

"He's gotten tickets for speeding, disobeying traffic lights and signs, illegal turns, seat-belt violations, not carrying proof of insurance, skipping an auto inspection and not registering his vehicle. He’s been cited on his boat as well. In some cases, he fought the law and the law lost. * * * Mr Nelson was confirmed by the full Senate on Oct. 11 by a vote of 51-44, with just one Democrat, Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, voting to confirm.

"Mr Nelson also got caught motoring on I-15 in a red Hyundai Elantra in 2011 when Mr Nelson was tracked going 100 mph in a 75 mph zone. The trooper wrote Mr Nelson 'did not exactly know how fast he was going to Idaho Falls.'  Mr Nelson 'said he was in a hurry,' the trooper added.

"While living in Alexandria, Va, Mr Nelson had several run-ins with local traffic cops. In October 2003 'he was caught speeding and] driving on an expired driver's license.  Two days later, Mr Nelson obtained a new driver's license, according to a court filing.  But as he returned from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, Mr Nelson got nabbed again, going 45 mph in the same 25 mph residential zone.  Because Mr Nelson was traveling more than 15 mph over the speed limit, he was charged with reckless driving as well, in accordance with Virginia law.

Note: Idaho Fall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_Falls,_Idaho
(Population (2010 [census]) City        56,813 [in comparison, Boise, capital and the most populous city, had 205,671 in that year]; The city name was "in reference to the rapids below the bridge" across a narrow black basaltic gorge)