Articles
Traffic Camera Appeal Considered by IA Supreme Court
The Iowa Supreme Court will consider a lawsuit filed over the use of traffic cameras in Davenport after a resident challenged the legality when he was taped going 49 mph in a 35-mph zone and was sent a ticket in the mail.
The city has five red light cameras and eight speed cameras installed in different spots around town.
Rights Violated
According to lawyers for the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, Thomas Seymour was denied the right to due process before he received a ticket. Furthermore, officials don’t have the authority to issue such fines, as determined by the state constitution.
A Scott County judge and an appeals judge rejected Seymour’s argument before ICLU lawyers asked the Supreme Court to intervene. One day after ICLU issued a statement concerning the matter, a different Scott County judge ruled in another case that the city’s use of traffic cameras are in direct violation of state law.
“The district court’s ruling bolsters Mr. Seymour’s appeal by demonstrating that an Iowa judge has agreed with our arguments that the Davenport ordinance violates Iowa law,” said Ben Stone, executive director of ICLU.
State Code
According to state code, those who run red lights must receive criminal citations. However, the city of Davenport treats the tickets given to people caught on traffic cameras as civil matters.
Attorneys for Seymour and the other drive in a similar case claim that the city is also violating the law by issuing citations to owners of the vehicles rather than the drivers.
Since the cameras were installed, 14,000 people have received tickets and the city has raised $470,000 in camera fine revenue.
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