由于交通违章，收到了警察的罚单，便将支票寄给了交通法庭。由于支票忘签名，被退了回来，收到邮件之日正是最后期限的最后一天，第二天去交通法庭被告知除了要交违章罚款之外，还要补交300刀的违约金，当时就整蒙了，觉得冤枉，因为我早就寄出支票，是法庭办事效率不高导致我被罚300刀。办事人员跟我说可以向法官进行申诉，并安排了见面日期。我为了把事情说清楚，写下了以下申诉材料，准备为自己辩护：

Dear Judge,

  It is my great honor to meet you in Yolo County Superior Court.

  My name is xxx from China. I am a visiting scholar at xxx University.

  On 1/22/2015, two weeks after I got my driving license, I made a mistake when I drove across the intersection at Old Davis Rd &Hutchinson Dr without any stops. It was an evening and it was so dark that I did not recognize the stop sign. A police woman stopped me and gave me a fine of $243.00.It was the first time I got a traffic fine. As it was my fault, I gave up defending for myself. I did not hesitate to post a check of mine to the traffic court. I hope the court will clear my violation record after receiving my check. But till a few days before the deadline 3/30/2015, I checked my traffic records on website, I found my violation record still existed. So I called the traffic court, a staff told me my check was not printed with my name and address, the court can’t reconcile it. So the staff changed my deadline to 4/27/2015. In fact, I used this kind of check to pay my apartment rent successfully.

  Then I booked a new style check from the bank and post the second check to the traffic court on 4/15/2015.In order to ensure the court receive my check, on 4/22/2015 I drove to the court and ask female staff whether she received my check. She told me she got it and it was OK, my record would be cleared. Hearing that, I took a deep breath, I thought I released my trouble eventually.

  But unfortunate thing happened on 4/27/2015. I picked up a letter from my mail box. It was from Yolo County Superior Court, it was written that my second check was still invalid for it was not signed by issuing party. By the due date 4/27/2015, if the bail amount of $243 is not paid, I need to pay a penalty of $300. To my astonishment, it was the very deadline when I got this mail. It was too late even if I flew to the court at once! Totally, I will be fined with $543. I went to the court on the next morning and told a staff what I encountered. She ceased my process and suggested me to argue with the judge. $543 is not a small number for me. Every month I can get only $1700 from my government, most of them are used to pay for the rent and foods. I have to save every penny for my everyday life.

  So I come here today.

  Your honor! I wrote all I want to say in this letter. I promise that all of what I said above  is true. I hope you can relieve or mitigate the penalty of $300 to me. I feel I am innocent because I am always trying to pay the fine without any complaints.

  Thank you for taking the time to hear my thoughts on this matter.

Sincerely,

xxx

   事情的结果是以上材料根本就没有派上用场，法院为我免费请了一个华人翻译，还没等我说三句话，那个胖法官就听得不耐烦了，他告诉我，从我的记录中知道我已经递交了支票，没有拒交罚单的意愿，只是支票搞错了，那300刀延期罚款不用交了，但是那243刀违章费还得交，如果想清楚交通违章的污点，就需要上驾校，还要缴费70刀，当然不交的话3年污点也会自动清除。Bingo!为了不在惹是生非，交钱走人。

   感想：美国虽然一切讲究法制，但也存在法外柔情，这个分寸的拿捏全靠法官的素质了。美国为了保证司法公正，无形之中导致了他们的行政执行效率低下，为了跟法官见面，足足等了一个月。