Lawsuit challenges red light camera ordinance (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/redlight/ct-red-light-camera-lawsuit-1102-20161101-story.html)
QuoteA move by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to allow for the rehearing of as many as 1.5 million improperly issued automated red light and speeding tickets faces a new court challenge filed Tuesday.
Attorney Jacie Zolna filed a 72-page lawsuit challenging an ordinance passed in September that allowed the city to send new notices to motorists for red light tickets issued between 2010 and 2015, giving them a chance to contest the tickets in court.
But Zolna said the ordinance was just an attempt to get around the illegality of the tickets, after a judge in another lawsuit he filed determined the city failed to follow proper procedures and had essentially tossed the tickets out.
"City Hall wants a do-over on tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of tickets," Zolna said. "Unfortunately, nothing in Illinois law says that if you lose the first time around you can adopt a new ordinance that lets you go back and fix it.
"It's really a scam."
But wait, there's more!
Judge approves class-action status for suit over red light, speed cameras (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-red-light-cameras-class-action-met-20161102-story.html)
QuoteA Cook County judge approved class-action status Wednesday for a lawsuit over the city's failure to give adequate notice to red light camera and speed camera violators, substantially increasing the city's potential liability.
The lawsuit contends that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration broke state law when it shortened the time that ticket holders had to contest their violations or pay their fines.
The decision by Judge Kathleen Kennedy to approve the proposed class-action means as many as 1.5 million motorists could have a stake in the outcome, not just the two plaintiffs who were named when the lawsuit was first filed.
QuoteLawyers for the Emanuel administration have tried to downplay the significance of the case, arguing that accelerating the time that people have to pay fines does not change the fact they were speeding or running a red light.
But plaintiffs' attorney Jacie Zolna argues that the tickets themselves are fatally flawed because the administration violated due process and should not be allowed a do-over. He is suing to recover all fines and late fees associated with those tickets.
"It's big," he said after court Wednesday. "It essentially means that every ruling in this case could affect millions of people."
Kennedy's ruling was just the latest blow in a lucrative automated camera enforcement program mired in corruption and mismanagement since it began almost 15 years ago.
QuoteA Tribune investigation found tens of thousands of tickets were issued improperly at malfunctioning cameras, where yellow lights were too short or city oversight was lacking. In addition, a Tribune-sponsored study found no reduction in injury-related, right-angle crashes at nearly 40 percent of camera locations, while the cameras caused a 22 percent increase in injuries from rear-end collisions throughout the city.
High time to rip them all out and ban the cameras statewide.