Municipal Court Date

I'm sitting in the local municipal court waiting to appear for an expired license plate. Was the plate expired? Yes. My reason for appearing has less to do with the violation, and more to do with the circumstances around the ticket. Give me your thoughts on the following details, I'm curious to hear what others think. Am I justified for this or just crazy for fighting the system?

  I was "pulled over" by a city officer in my own driveway after parking the van. Heather, my wife, was out of state with my son on a school trip and had our proof of insurance with her. The officer approached me and said my plates were expired and the reason for the stop. He asked for registration, driver's license and proof of insurance. I searched the van for insurance cards. Since we were at my home he allowed me to look inside also, no luck.
  When I returned to the van he said to just show it at the local court, and handed me a violation ticket to sign. No discussion about the laws, or if he was REQUIRED to cite me, or even a simple question of how it got missed, just a request to sign the ticket. The ticket was for $160 USD.

  The next day I went to the license bureau to renew the plate, which costed $65 including a $10 late fee. Seriously, a $160 ticket to the city for a $10 state fee, who actually issues the registration??? Beyond this, the court date and time were illegible so I had to go online and look up my case just to find out when to appear. 
  The circumstances behind this error if not renewing has to do with a change when we bought the van last year. We've had all of our vehicles registered on my birthday in December. When the new van was registered it went on my wife's birthday, and I never received a reminder of the renewal. Our fault, yes. 

 Am I really off base in expecting to discuss a ticket prior to it being written, or at least an explanation of why he's required to cite me? Is it really too much to ask that the ticket be legible? Is it acceptable that the citation costs 16 times the late fee imposed by the state?

UPDATE:
I just left court after pleading No Contest and explaining the circumstances around the event. The judge admitted that the ticket quality needs to be better and agreed that my good standing in the past warranted the dropping of the fine, and charged me court cost of $90 for appearing. I'm not upset with this for the fact that the judge was reasonable and not demeaning or condescending. Life goes on!