Claudine Zapp: Man Fined for paying Fee In Pennies

Police have charged Jason West, a medical patient in Vernal Utah, with disorderly conduct. He had attempted to pay a DISPUTED medical bill of $25 with pennies. The Salt Lake City Deseret News, after asking the clinic staff if the facility accepted cash payments, dumped 2,500 pennies on the counter, and demanded that they be counted. The clinic staff immediately called the police, and the arresting officer wrongly contended that West's protest served "no legitimate purpose". His fine could go as high as $140, and there is no immediate word as yet what currency the alleged victim will use to pay it. West is not alone in the ranks of "penny protesters". A man in Frederick, Maryland showed up at the local county clerk's office last summer with bags to pay his tax bill with $966.86 in change, and a New Jersey school district a few years ago punished 29 students, who paid for their $2 lunches in pennies, possibly as a prank, with two-day detentions. After parents protested, the students were pardoned, though the school explained that the use of the small change slowed down the lunch line.