To catch a teacher...

For my fellow Master's Thesis writers out there, the technicalities of "citations" took on a whole new meaning for me this weekend...although my thesis was the last thing on my mind.
Okay, here's my case:
We were entering the Chicago Red Line station after Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade. The person in front of me dipped his farecard and proceeded through the handicapped gate. I had my U-Pass CTA card (with unlimited rides for the semester) out in my hand and ready to dip but the gate had not closed yet. I proceeded through in the flurry of getting to the train.
An undercover cop then asked me to step over to the side and show my I.D. Despite my explanation to her of the concept of an unlimited rides farecard and how it was in my hand ready to go, she continued writing out the citation. She told me I had committed theft. I told her my ride was already paid for and no one lost any money. I was then watched over by another undercover cop while she called in my information to make sure there were no warrants out for my arrest. (There aren't.) I presume the other undercover cop was standing guard over me so that I wouldn't run away? I told him that I had that U-Pass because I'm in a graduate program preparing me to become a teacher and be a role model for America's youth...and I STILL have to get a citation? He answered, "Oh, wow. Well, we just caught a lawyer going through without paying." I think he missed my point about professionals who are committed to morals but well, whatever.
They also stated that if I didn't have identification on me that day, I would have been arrested. I know what you're thinking: "Jean, when are you going to get your life together and stop getting into trouble with the law?" And I've got some nerve messing with the clean, efficient, and financially sound CTA!
I think this is an excellent time to point out the 'honor system' that is called the Viennese Transit System. Let me explain:
While I was visiting this fine, civilized metropolis called Vienna this past January- where they probably don't celebrate the feast of St. Patrick - I noticed the lack of turnstiles in all of the trains. You don't even show a ticket when you got on the buses! You stamp your ticket by entering it in the little blue box and then go on your merry way. If you have a 30 day pass, for example, you don't have to validate it again until it expires. YOU JUST WALK IN. There is the sporadic ticketing agent that will walk through a train and ask for tickets but that is a rare occasion. Might I also point out that on weekends, you can take a newspaper out of a bag (no locks!) on the lamppost, and they TRUST YOU to deposit coins into a little box. And yes, they have a health system that works, too.
I'd also like to point out the more pleasant train station experience I had in Budapest. Here I am (below) enjoying an unidentifiable pastry and machine-made cappuccino in a plastic cup upon my arrival at the Hungary's main train station. It was cold and soviet feeling, and it was still better than the CTA. And that's saying something.
So my question to you all is this: do I contest a $50 CTA citation on principle? (The citation turns out to be the equivalent of a parking ticket-I will not have a criminal record!) Or do I pay the fee and spend $50 worth of my time doing something productive? Like, maybe working on my thesis?