What's working in your area?

[DVaut1]

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I don't know if this is already national or not (I assume it is) but in MA there are places you can go to renew your drivers license and do a few other things like that at these little places in malls and stuff. It put at least a tiny fire under the RMV's ass as well as ended the 3 hour long lines.

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These have existed for a long time in lots of states. We call them license offices in Missouri. Sure, they're convenient, but the truth is, they're patronage slots for whatever party is in power. If party control shifts, everyone who works there is fired and the contract is awarded to whoever contributed heavily to the last campaign. Convenient as they are they're really a form of corruption. I'd have no problem if they were really awarded on the basis of open bidding, but that's not about to happen. They're still better than the real DMV.

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Can you guys renew your license and get new/replacement license plates over the internet? Because I haven't been to the Secretary of State's office in a long time (Secretary of State's office = Michigan's DMV equivalent) because I can do all that over the internet.

I used to live in Massachusetts, and I don't recall being able to do that.

[DVaut1]

Ann Arbor more or less 'decriminalized' marijuana. Possession is a $25 for a first offense, with penalties of $50 for a second offense, and $100 for further offenses. The fine can never exceed $100 -- and the offense is a civil infraction, not a misdemeanor or felony, so it's essentially like a parking ticket, in that it doesn't go on your criminal record so long as the fine is paid.

And as a general rule, the police are usually willing to turn a blind eye to most people lighting up in public, so hardly anyone gets ticketed for the infraction anyway. One caveat is the U of M is state property and therefore subject to the state's drug laws, and not the city's, so getting caught with marijuana on campus will generally lead to stiffer penalties, but even then, it's my experience that campus authorities don't treat enforcing marijuana prohibitions as a high priority.

Ann Arbor is definitely unique, but I don't see why this wouldn't work elsewhere. Ann Arbor is generally safe, clean, livable, etc. Many people here are cerebral, hold down jobs, drive safely, don't abuse drugs, aren't involved in gangs, or whatever other goofy arguments are made against decriminalization.

[Leaky Eye]

I live in San Francisco, and am libertarian.

So things that work:
1. General permissiveness and tolerance of people's personal choices.
2. Deprioritization of prostitution and marijuana arrests.

I don't think that any of this is going to be carried to the national level.

Things that don't work:
Everything else. Commie [censored].

[bkholdem]

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I don't know if this is already national or not (I assume it is) but in MA there are places you can go to renew your drivers license and do a few other things like that at these little places in malls and stuff. It put at least a tiny fire under the RMV's ass as well as ended the 3 hour long lines.

[/ QUOTE ]

These have existed for a long time in lots of states. We call them license offices in Missouri. Sure, they're convenient, but the truth is, they're patronage slots for whatever party is in power. If party control shifts, everyone who works there is fired and the contract is awarded to whoever contributed heavily to the last campaign. Convenient as they are they're really a form of corruption. I'd have no problem if they were really awarded on the basis of open bidding, but that's not about to happen. They're still better than the real DMV.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you guys renew your license and get new/replacement license plates over the internet? Because I haven't been to the Secretary of State's office in a long time (Secretary of State's office = Michigan's DMV equivalent) because I can do all that over the internet.

I used to live in Massachusetts, and I don't recall being able to do that.

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I just renewed my registration over the net. (still had to pay though lol)

[bkholdem]

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Ann Arbor more or less 'decriminalized' marijuana. Possession is a $25 for a first offense, with penalties of $50 for a second offense, and $100 for further offenses. The fine can never exceed $100 -- and the offense is a civil infraction, not a misdemeanor or felony, so it's essentially like a parking ticket, in that it doesn't go on your criminal record so long as the fine is paid.

And as a general rule, the police are usually willing to turn a blind eye to most people lighting up in public, so hardly anyone gets ticketed for the infraction anyway. One caveat is the U of M is state property and therefore subject to the state's drug laws, and not the city's, so getting caught with marijuana on campus will generally lead to stiffer penalties, but even then, it's my experience that campus authorities don't treat enforcing marijuana prohibitions as a high priority.

Ann Arbor is definitely unique, but I don't see why this wouldn't work elsewhere. Ann Arbor is generally safe, clean, livable, etc. Many people here are cerebral, hold down jobs, drive safely, don't abuse drugs, aren't involved in gangs, or whatever other goofy arguments are made against decriminalization.

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Of course decriminalization would work (for the people), but it doesn't work for law enforcement/the government/the criminal justice system/etc.

I heard a federal judge (who is now a libertarian and pro decrim of drugs) say that in his opiinion the reason that the government will not come out in favor of legalization/decriminialization of marijuana is because the volume of pot users is huge comparted to the volume of coke/herion/etc users. So if they allow the pot it kills off too much of their business (of busting drug users and cranking taxes to pay for the dealing with them).

Wish I remembered his name, I saw a little internet vid of him being intreviewed on a little lib talk show, he was contemplating seeking the backing for running for prez on the lib ticket (might have been as far back as 2000). He also has a book out.

[ConstantineX]

[ QUOTE ]
Ann Arbor more or less 'decriminalized' marijuana. Possession is a $25 for a first offense, with penalties of $50 for a second offense, and $100 for further offenses. The fine can never exceed $100 -- and the offense is a civil infraction, not a misdemeanor or felony, so it's essentially like a parking ticket, in that it doesn't go on your criminal record so long as the fine is paid.

And as a general rule, the police are usually willing to turn a blind eye to most people lighting up in public, so hardly anyone gets ticketed for the infraction anyway. One caveat is the U of M is state property and therefore subject to the state's drug laws, and not the city's, so getting caught with marijuana on campus will generally lead to stiffer penalties, but even then, it's my experience that campus authorities don't treat enforcing marijuana prohibitions as a high priority.

Ann Arbor is definitely unique, but I don't see why this wouldn't work elsewhere. Ann Arbor is generally safe, clean, livable, etc. Many people here are cerebral, hold down jobs, drive safely, don't abuse drugs, aren't involved in gangs, or whatever other goofy arguments are made against decriminalization.

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Maybe this is a function of living within a university town. Perhaps Ann Arbor, being home to one of the power house national public universities, has enough bright people to simply use drugs better, more capable of utilizing the sought-out effects in a constructive manner. Some research has been published that claims that the poor are simply self-destructive, less capable of dealing with the ancillary effects of hedonistic behavior. That's some pretty Darwinistic thinking, but it's outwardly plausible even with regards to my limited experience, and could be an argument against liberalization of drugs in low-income areas in favor of more cerebral college towns.

[MrMon]

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I don't know if this is already national or not (I assume it is) but in MA there are places you can go to renew your drivers license and do a few other things like that at these little places in malls and stuff. It put at least a tiny fire under the RMV's ass as well as ended the 3 hour long lines.

[/ QUOTE ]

These have existed for a long time in lots of states. We call them license offices in Missouri. Sure, they're convenient, but the truth is, they're patronage slots for whatever party is in power. If party control shifts, everyone who works there is fired and the contract is awarded to whoever contributed heavily to the last campaign. Convenient as they are they're really a form of corruption. I'd have no problem if they were really awarded on the basis of open bidding, but that's not about to happen. They're still better than the real DMV.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you guys renew your license and get new/replacement license plates over the internet? Because I haven't been to the Secretary of State's office in a long time (Secretary of State's office = Michigan's DMV equivalent) because I can do all that over the internet.

I used to live in Massachusetts, and I don't recall being able to do that.

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Yes, we can do that now, but I always forget to renew until the end of the month and I don't want to risk going over, having been caught once.

We have automatic scanning stations for emissions tests now, so if you happen to drive by one when your license is due, they just mail you a pass, saving you a trip. You just have to send in the fee on the internet.