Mercedes Benz 450 SLC 5.0 rally and road cars. Two SLC’s driven by Björn Waldegaard / Hans Thorszelius and Jorge Recalde / Nestor Straimel achieved a double victory in the 12th Rally Bandama, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), from 9 to 14 December 1980. The pairing of Vic Preston Jr. / Claes Billstam (starting number 6) took 5th place. Also in December 1980 the Board of Management decided that the company would withdraw from the world rally championship
Levi Lane shuffled into the pews of the El Paso County jail court still reeking of poultry fat from his night shift at a local pet food factory. Driving home at 2 in the morning, he had been pulled over for going 43 miles an hour when the limit was 35 and arrested on the spot for outstanding traffic tickets.
There in court, Judge Cheryl Davis, a part-time judge and bankruptcy lawyer, called Lane’s name. Barely looking up at him, Lane recalled, she read off his driving offenses, which included expired registration, no insurance, and not stopping at a stop sign — five traffic stops, totaling more than $3,400 in penalties.
If Lane paid up, he would have been released immediately. But there was no way Lane could afford that sum. The pet food factory paid $8 an hour, more than any other job he had had, but even so he made only $5,650 that year. Judge Davis did not ask about his financial situation, Lane said. Less than two minutes after the hearing began, it ended. In lieu of payment, Lane, who had no legal representation, was ordered to spend 21 days in jail.
What happened to Lane is illegal. It violates Texas law and two unanimous Supreme Court decisions, all of which bar courts from jailing people simply because they are too poor to pay their fines. One of the Supreme Court decisions even stemmed from a traffic case in Texas.
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