Traffic judge apologizes to man nagged for years over twin's tickets

PHILADELPHIA -- A traffic judge apologized to a man who was hounded for 17 years by officials trying to get his similarly named twin brother to resolve $1,800 in unpaid tickets and fines.

The problems all started for 40-year-old Edward Stanley Harris between October 1990 and May 1991. During that period, his twin brother, Edwin Shelby Harris, received eight tickets for moving violations.

Edwin Harris pleaded guilty in traffic court in September 1991 and was ordered to pay $1,501. But Edwin Harris never paid. He hit hard times, drifted south and lost touch with his brother.

In the fall of 1992, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation gave Edward Harris a painful reminder of his twin: The agency, confusing him with his brother, told him his license would be suspended for nonpayment of tickets.

Eventually, PennDOT got things cleared up and withdrew the suspension threat. But Edward Harris' fight against bureaucracy was only just beginning.

Every year or so, between November 1992 and June 2007, PennDOT would rediscover Edwin Harris' unpaid tickets and threaten to suspend his twin's license. Each time, Edward Harris would return to traffic court, and the suspension threat would get lifted.

The cycle dragged on until November, when Judge Willie Adams refused to look at the paperwork that showed Edward Harris was innocent, then told him to start paying the tickets or go to jail. That led him to take his story to the Philadelphia Daily News.

After a column Monday, a different traffic judge, Bernice DeAngelis, caught wind of the story. She apologized and said the court would give Edward Harris a refund.

"I'd like the chance to look him in the eye and apologize, from the bottom of my heart," DeAngelis told the newspaper for a story Thursday. "I see what we do in this court as a sacred trust. That might sound corny, but I truly believe it. I'm sorry for everything he had to go through."