Jonathan Gosselin: A plea for help from a NH resident to my representatives

To The Daily Sun,

The recent federal court injunction blocking New Hampshire from ending mandatory vehicle inspection program is more than just a legal "hiccup" — it is a glaring example of a double standard that unfairly burdens the common people of this state.

What makes this ruling particularly frustrating is the apparent disconnect shown by U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty. While the state Legislature and the governor acted to provide much-needed relief to Granite Staters, a single federal judge (McCafferty, who was appointed and not elected) stepped in at the last second to overrule the will of the people. It is easy for a lifetime appointee in a comfortable Concord courtroom to demand "compliance," but it is the common people who have to foot the bill for these arbitrary standards.

For years, we have been told that annual inspections are a "safety necessity." Yet, over 35 states do not require a regular safety inspection at all. States like Florida, South Carolina, and even Michigan manage to maintain road safety without forcing their citizens to pay for a yearly sticker.

Why is a car considered "safe" to drive in Montana without an inspection, but that same car in NH is treated as a legal liability by a judge who seems more concerned with federal red tape than the pockets, livelihoods, and freedoms of her fellow citizens?

Furthermore, the "Clean Air Act" argument used to block our state law is increasingly outdated. NH is currently one of only three states in the entire country that still mandates both a safety and an emissions test every single year. If the air is clean enough in 47 other states to function, it is clean enough in NH.

It is time for the federal judiciary to stop standing in the way of state law and allow New Hampshire to join the majority of the country in trusting its citizens to maintain their own vehicles.

I am disappointed and saddened by the flagrant political theater put on display by a judge who was appointed and not elected. I am a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student at the University of New Hampshire, so unlike McCafferty (who makes $249,000 a year), I make a very small amount, roughly $15,000 a year. This is while paying thousands out of pocket every year for schooling costs, thousands for auto maintenance, and trying to save for my future in an era where the American Dream is completely out of reach for most people my age. 

That $50 for inspection may not seem like a lot to the judge, but it is a lot for the 1.4 million other NH residents who make an average of $66,000 a year. We live in an era where a single person who makes 3x the average household income and 12.5x my income gets to tell my fellow citizens and me what we can and cannot do in our democracy to alleviate our cost of living.

Jonathan Gosselin

Gilmanton