Should the law be moral

Whilst perusing the news stories reported in the lower right of this blog I came across this letter to the Derby Telegraph

What interested me were two things, firstly the letter writers claim that they were going to appeal the notice after having paid the notice. A very poor strategy in my opinion because there will be nothing to appeal once the notice is paid.  It seems that the writer intends to launch a judicial review of the police decision to issue the notice, a very high risk and expensive strategy for a speeding ticket!  The average judicial review is now estimated to cost in the region of £10,000's a hefty price to pay to challenge a notice.

Note to all: it is never a good idea to risk financial ruin over any fixed penalty notice!

The second interesting part of this letter was the reference to an earlier letter entitled "Morally wrong to catch speeders on safe road".  I have read this letter and the complaints in it are quite familiar, anyone wishing to understand how these complaints come about would do well to have a look at this brilliant work from Dr Helen Wells (portions available at Google books) at the University of Keele.

What I find particularly interesting about the second letter is the claim that

If one is speeding near people or schools, fair cop, but to set up shop where the road conditions lull you into a false sense then it is morally wrong and he should be ashamed.

It is interesting that it is the officer that should be ashamed, according to the writer, not the person caught speeding.  This seems a reversal of the way in which criminal justice should work, it is the offender who is meant to feel shame for their offence and in doing so come to see the law as legitimate and to be obeyed.

It seems with speeding enforcement, and the mechanisms used to capture speeders, that there is a victim / perpetrator reversal.  Undoubtedly this writer feels that receiving the notice has imparted some really unwarranted criticism of their driving and this has led them to reevaluate not their driving, but their attitude to the law and those who enforce it.  This is a powerful social impact for what seems to be such a minor penalty (£100 + 3 points).  

I have found this process takes place in most on the spot penalty punishments, whether it is for disorder, littering or speeding, the notice means a lot more than what has been described previously as "just another bill".  The notice transmits meanings to those who receive them, but not those that are intended by enforcement agencies.  Instead what happens is that those who receive them are generally outraged at being labelled a "problem" by the agency as the above two letters show.  The first writer is considering drastic legal action to challenge their FPN and the second suggests that they should not be criticized at all, instead the police should for enforcing the law in this way.

Perhaps this is a good thing, the Fixed Penalty Notice should be something more than "just another bill", but what else it is, at present, is at times hotly contested.  What do you think? Would you ever think of a fine as just another bill to add to all the rest?