Man Jailed in New Hampshire Over 50-Cent Toll

[shemp]

Mass. Resident Considering Lawsuit (http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/14112594/detail.html)

ROCHESTER, N.H. -- A Massachusetts man who insists his New Hampshire highway tokens are still valid just spent three days in jail because he insisted on using two tokens to pay a 50-cent toll.

Thomas Jensen, 68, of Braintree, said the state broke a contract with him and everyone else who bought tokens by refusing to accept them after January of last year. He was convicted of theft of services for continuing to use tokens after they were phased out.

‘‘I gave the state of New Hampshire money for the tokens, and I expect to be able to use them,’’ Jensen told The Patriot Ledger.

For many years, the state of New Hampshire sold rolls of toll booth tokens at a discount. Each token could be used in lieu of a quarter. In January 2006, after several months of announcements about it, the state stopped accepting tokens.

What angers me about this is that the state has made a one-sided decision no longer to honor these tokens and has declared them worthless. However, N.H. has a law that says that gift cards purchased from a business are good as long as that business operates. Many states allow businesses to stop honoring gift cards if they are not redeemed within two years of purchase, but in N.H. they are redeemable in perpetuity. Yet the state has seen fit to ignore that principle and to declare that its tokens are now worthless. If a private business tried to do this with their gift cards they would be prevented from doing so, unless they went out of business in the state entirely. The last time I checked, the State of New Hampshire was still in business. I hope this guy sues and wins big.

[This Guy]

When did the state stop selling the tokens?

[Just thinking]

When did the state stop selling the tokens?

I'll bet it was sometime after the Post Office in NH stopped selling out-of-print 5 cent first class postage stamps.

(PS: They're still good in too.)

[Mercutio]

On the other hand, he deserves some sort of punishment for being from Massachussets.

[Beady]

Isn't living in Massachussets punishment enough?

[WildCat]

When did the state stop selling the tokens?
2 years ago, apparently (http://www.wirenh.com/News/News_-_general/after_E-ZPass,_tokens_find_a_new_home_20050831699.html):
Wednesday, 31 August 2005 This week marks the end of an era in New Hampshire, as the state stops selling highway tokens to make way for the automated E-ZPass toll system.

But the tokens won’t vanish overnight. The state plans to collect tokens at the toll plazas along New Hampshire’s highways until Jan. 1. After that, though, the future of the tiny brass-colored coins emblazoned with the craggy visage Old Man of the Mountain becomes uncertain.

[WildCat]

If a private business tried to do this with their gift cards they would be prevented from doing so, unless they went out of business in the state entirely. The last time I checked, the State of New Hampshire was still in business. I hope this guy sues and wins big.
Since when is New Hampshire a business?

[TragicMonkey]

Perhaps they should have had a period in which they would redeem the tokens for cash value, before discontinuing taking them at the tolls.

[This Guy]

2 years ago, apparently (http://www.wirenh.com/News/News_-_general/after_E-ZPass,_tokens_find_a_new_home_20050831699.html):

So he had two years at a minimum to use them up. I'd think unless he was hording them, he shouldn't have had a problem with that.

I agree these type things are aggravating, but it sounds like the gentleman had plenty of time to "adjust" and get over it.

Also sounds like he clearly broke the law and should pay.

But, that's just my humble opinion :)

[ponderingturtle]

So he had two years at a minimum to use them up. I'd think unless he was hording them, he shouldn't have had a problem with that.

I agree these type things are aggravating, but it sounds like the gentleman had plenty of time to "adjust" and get over it.

Also sounds like he clearly broke the law and should pay.

But, that's just my humble opinion :)

No he had about 5 months. They have not been accepted since jan 1 2006

[This Guy]

No he had about 5 months. They have not been accepted since jan 1 2006

My bad!

OK, let's attack the state of Mass., and throw all their quarters in the bay!

That'll show them!

OK, joking aside, I think 5 months might be a bit short. I woulda thought they would allow at least a year for something like that.

Or, at least offer an exchange, like TragicMonkey mentioned.

Bottom line still stands though, he did have a warning, and 5 months to get rid of the tokens.

I'd probably have stuck some back as collector pieces myself, but I'm strange like that.

Anyway, I do hate when long running traditions go away. But, that's life.

[qayak]

they were putting in a new EasyPay system which means that the company they contracted wanted to make as much money as possible to kick start the system so they have the government pass a law getting rid of the tokens ASAP.

All these easy pay systems do is allow the citizens to be tracked, motorists to be charged more money and governments to collect more taxes.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Technology/Toll-Records-Trip-Up-Philanderers/2007/08/11/1186530645172.html

http://www.crosscut.com/mossback/6291/Beware+of+the+feds+bearing+gifts/

[Just thinking]

It's high time these tolls be abolished (http://users.nac.net/jmp/tollfree/)!

Some states have none and others toll you as you leave your driveway. It can be (and has been) done.

[Mercutio]

Yeah, but then we would not be able to tax non-residents instead of residents. Like our room & meals tax, we try our best to get money from visitors instead of our own good folks.

[shemp]

Yeah, but then we would not be able to tax non-residents instead of residents. Like our room & meals tax, we try our best to get money from visitors instead of our own good folks.

We should just license privateers to go into other states and rob victims at gunpoint. Then they would split the loot 50/50 with NH, and when the out-of-state authorities request extradition of the culprits, the governor would refuse.

[Just thinking]

Yeah, but then we would not be able to tax non-residents instead of residents. Like our room & meals tax, we try our best to get money from visitors instead of our own good folks.

I know ... once politicians discover a new way to extort money they never seem to be able to stop the pilfering.

"Enough is never enough ..." RJ -- from Over the Hedge.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

If 50 Cent didn't pay for a toll, why did they throw this guy into jail? :confused:

[crackers]

If 50 Cent didn't pay for a toll, why did they throw this guy into jail? :confused:

A case of mistaken identity, obviously.

[bozothedeathmachine]

I think 5 months might be a bit short.

Not to derail the conversation too much, didn't the EUzone do their conversion in 3 months? Granted that one was a bit more publicized, but I'm still finding now-worthless Deutsch Marks in various nooks and crannies all over my house.

[Ian Osborne]

Not to derail the conversation too much, didn't the EUzone do their conversion in 3 months? Granted that one was a bit more publicized, but I'm still finding now-worthless Deutsch Marks in various nooks and crannies all over my house.

Yes, but I believe you can take them to the bank and get them changed still. It sounds like NH took the piss by canceling the tokens which had been legally bought and paid for, but the correct course of action for this guy would be to sue, not to try to spend them when he knows they're invalid.

[Just thinking]

Not to de-rail this thread (yeah, sure), but once on the NJ Turnpike an exit was closed down entirely due to an accident, and everyone had to proceed to the next one (in either direction --- Northbound and Southbound). Now, my question is, can they force you to now pay the extra toll that would be incurred for taking that next exit instead of the one you originally intended (the shut down one)?

[Beerina]

Point of order here: The state claims they "no longer accept tokens". Yet clearly their machines still accept them.

Philosophically, going back thousands of years, isn't "acceptance" a physical act, not a state of mind?

If'n I were the judge, I'd quickly rule that, yes, the state does appear to be accepting them.

The state, like states and politicians do, likes it's philosophy many ways, depending on the position they want to support. Witness a store that lists a product for price X, but when you get to the cashiere, it is price Y (which, statistically 9 of 10 times, is more than X).

What do most states say? "Ummm, no. You must charge the lesser, and give the customer 10x the difference. tsk tsk. Bad store. BAD STORE!"

Ahhh, gotta love it. Women have a right to their own bodies and sexuality. Unless they want to be a prositute. Then angry politicians own them.

[Dancing David]

Sounds like the bugaboo of state soveriegn immunity will be around soon.