Where to Go to Start Anew

(I live in California, which is where all this took place.)

Thanks to a run of about six to nine months of bad luck, I incurred some legal troubles, to wit, getting pulled over for no registration, a cracked windshield, and an "unsafe turn" (the last being total bovine excrement). I had a court date, but as I had zero money (was in process of being evicted), I didn't show up, as I had nothing to offer in the way of paying fines.

A month later, I got this nasty-gram in the mail saying there was now a warrant for my arrest--as if the problems during the rest of the year weren't bad enough.

Between this and a child support arrears, I really think the time has come for me to just bug out. I don't have the thousands and thousands of dollars I would need to clear all this garbage up, and I'd rather just drive off a cliff than have to deal with the criminal "justice" system.

In the short run, I'm just trying to lay low (as I said in another thread, I have the child support situation under control, through they still have my driver's license revoked and it would probably be easier to swim the English Channel than get that back). In the medium term, I'd like to move to another state where none of this steer manure will follow me, at least for a time. Then, I'd like to leave the country--and never return. I figure America's falling apart anyway, and I might as well head for the exit before the crowds come...

Anyone have some tactical or strategic advice for me? I mean come on now, it's not like I molested someone or robbed a bank--I work and make an honest living, I don't cause trouble for anyone, I have a college degree. This is over a bloody CAR, for Christ's sake. I have no intention of being jailed or poor the rest of my life over a car, and there's plenty of places in the world I could go and never ever have to worry about this again and live a nice, peaceful life.

No one here is going to give you instructions for avoiding your legal responsibilities.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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No one here is going to give you instructions for avoiding your legal responsibilities.

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(Translation: You're poor, so no one gives a hoot, go away.)

Your complete lack of sympathy for my situation is duly noted.

However, I believe it rather presumptuous of you to opine that everyone else on this board is as utterly indifferent to my plight as you. So I'll keep checking back to see if I receive an actual constructive piece of advice.

You're not going to be able to stay in the country and avoid the consequences of choosing to be a fugitive. You will not get a driver's license. You'll disqualify yourself from various forms of public assistance. You'll risk being picked up on a warrant.

So even if somebody here wanted to help you be a fugitive, there's really not much they could say.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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You're not going to be able to stay in the country and avoid the consequences of choosing to be a fugitive. You will not get a driver's license. You'll disqualify yourself from various forms of public assistance. You'll risk being picked up on a warrant.

So even if somebody here wanted to help you be a fugitive, there's really not much they could say.

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It's not a question of CHOOSING anything. It's a matter of survival. I don't have the thousands and thousands of dollars I'd need to take care of all this garbage. If I were getting paid like that, most of it would never have occurred in the first place.

Right now I'm just laying low. Who knows--the way the economy is crashing, in a few years there might not be a government left, or if there is, it probably will have its hands full keeping the lights on and the food on store shelves and not bother with people like me who work and aren't causing any problems in the first place.

I was hoping someone could tell me where in America I can go--preferable a rural place with access to freshwater and a decent growing season--where a California warrant doesn't matter. I could then establish myself and wait to see if we crash into another Depression where nobody's going to care about my stupid little warrant (looks rather likely) and I can breathe easier. Or, if the economy does actually recover, I could see if a) I can get a nice $50K/year job where I can afford to settle this, or, b) save my money and get the heck out of Dodge.

I don't see what's unreasonable about that--just making the best of the crummy hand I was dealt.

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Quoting postnuclearlife

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It's not a question of CHOOSING anything. It's a matter of survival. I don't have the thousands and thousands of dollars I'd need to take care of all this garbage. If I were getting paid like that, most of it would never have occurred in the first place.

Right now I'm just laying low. Who knows--the way the economy is crashing, in a few years there might not be a government left, or if there is, it probably will have its hands full keeping the lights on and the food on store shelves and not bother with people like me who work and aren't causing any problems in the first place.

I was hoping someone could tell me where in America I can go--preferable a rural place with access to freshwater and a decent growing season--where a California warrant doesn't matter. I could then establish myself and wait to see if we crash into another Depression where nobody's going to care about my stupid little warrant (looks rather likely) and I can breathe easier. Or, if the economy does actually recover, I could see if a) I can get a nice $50K/year job where I can afford to settle this, or, b) save my money and get the heck out of Dodge.

I don't see what's unreasonable about that--just making the best of the crummy hand I was dealt.

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why not turn yourself in, do the time. Hey two hots and a cot. You don't have to work, no responisbility, just shuckin and jiving with your buddies.

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Quoting Antigone

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why not turn yourself in, do the time. Hey two hots and a cot. You don't have to work, no responisbility, just shuckin and jiving with your buddies.

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What is this...Arrogance Central or something? Just how do you people manage to take time away from the yacht club to condescend to speak with common working folk like me? I could go to Stormfront and see more regard for one's fellow humans than I've seen in public here.

Where in the hell do you get off telling me to go "shuck and jive" with "my buddies" in jail?

You know, it's posts like yours that make me glad the United States is falling apart and will soon join Rome and Carthage on the dustbin of history. This used to be a country where people came together and worked to solve problems. Now apparently we're down to sneering at one another's misfortunes (when most of those doing the sneering are probably just one or two paychecks from the eviction notice/foreclosure and repo man themselves).

Just remember: there but for the grace of God go you.

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Quoting postnuclearlife

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What is this...Arrogance Central or something? Just how do you people manage to take time away from the yacht club to condescend to speak with common working folk like me? I could go to Stormfront and see more regard for one's fellow humans than I've seen in public here.

Where in the hell do you get off telling me to go "shuck and jive" with "my buddies" in jail?

You know, it's posts like yours that make me glad the United States is falling apart and will soon join Rome and Carthage on the dustbin of history. This used to be a country where people came together and worked to solve problems. Now apparently we're down to sneering at one another's misfortunes (when most of those doing the sneering are probably just one or two paychecks from the eviction notice/foreclosure and repo man themselves).

Just remember: there but for the grace of God go you.

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Ok, so you don't like to shuck n' jive, you can him and haw, who the heck cares.

A viable option if you don't have the money is to do your time. If you present yourself before a judge he might even be gracious enough to allow you to perform community service. A few weekends picking up trash and your debt to society is paid. Your problem is you want to skirt the system and not be held accountable for a darn thing.

Honey, if you think people are going to come together and absolve you of your responsiblities you're are nuts. If you can't dig yourself out of this measly hole you've gotten yourself into, there is no hope for you to ever hold down a 50k a year job. Jobs like that would require you to work, to think out of the box and to problem solve in a responsible and ethical manner. Dude, you don't have a clue.

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Quoting Antigone

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Ok, so you don't like to shuck n' jive, you can him and haw, who the heck cares.

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That's what passes for humor in your stratum of society?

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A viable option if you don't have the money is to do your time. If you present yourself before a judge he might even be gracious enough to allow you to perform community service. A few weekends picking up trash and your debt to society is paid. Your problem is you want to skirt the system and not be held accountable for a darn thing.

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Ah, finally, a useful piece of advice. Was it that hard? No, seriously, thanks. Not that I intend to be an indentured servant of the State, but this is the first thing you've said so far that was actually intended to be helpful, and I do thank you for it.

Actually, what I'd like is for the system to leave me the hell alone.

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Honey, if you think people are going to come together and absolve you of your responsiblities you're are nuts. If you can't dig yourself out of this measly hole you've gotten yourself into, there is no hope for you to ever hold down a 50k a year job. Jobs like that would require you to work, to think out of the box and to problem solve in a responsible and ethical manner. Dude, you don't have a clue.

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Actually, I'm quite adept at solving technical problems. It's what I do for a living. Solve actual problems with limited information and resources in the field. Considering the fecal-matter storm this country is headed into, I'm much more intellectually up to the challenges to come than those who worship the government and rely on "the system" to be their Mommy and Daddy.

And "responsible and ethical manner?" Dude, that went out the window with the corporate bailouts. It's every person for him or herself now.

All the hyperbole aside, you got the responses you did because this is a legal forum about the law, not a survivalist mailing list on getting over on Uncle Sam or moving to the third world. In any case, I can assure you the third world does not want you.

Short of living like a hermit, it will be hard to avoid the warrant for long.
It will be in NCIC available to any law enforcement agency. Living as a fugitive is no fun and after a while you will see how pointless it is.

Living somewhere where you don't need a car should be your first step.

It does not sound like you can afford an airplane ticket to go anywhere far enough. But if you did, you can enter most countries on a tourist visa, but you can not stay beyond that 60 or 90 days. You can NOT work. You can't legally move to another country without having a big chunk of money or a guaranteed income. You can't work there even then. It would take 5 years or more most places to become a legal resident before you could work, and sometimes, not even then.

No country in the world will let you just move there. Many people think it is hard to get into the US and get a green card, and all that. The US is nothing compared to the rest of the world. Not even a poor country wants poor ass Americans or anyone else without a bundle to invest there.

Also consider that you probably couldn't even survive in a country where you could not speak the language fluently, so that would further limit your choices.

And talking about when the crap hits the fan here, you can be sure it is going to be far worse in other places without the resources of the U.S., especially for poor people or the middle class. I have a friend in Moscow who thought with the energy resources of the Russian Federation and his money there he would be able to ride out a collapse of the U.S., but the fact of the matter is, he was very wrong.

I own property in the US, Costa Rica, Panama and Ukraine so I know what I am talking about.