Chicago’s red light ticketing camera program has received a lot of bad press over the years. This controversial program has been linked to bribery, unfair ticketing, and overall mismanagement. Even the original vendor is accused of obtaining the contracts fraudulently and is facing a lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago over their operation of the program.
But in a recent decision that questioned the constitutionality of the program, a judge ruled that the program is in fact constitutional. The hope for the lawsuit was that it would force an end to the program and reimburse those who paid tickets received in relation to the program, but the class action lawsuit was dismissed with the judge ruling that the City of Chicago acted within its powers to establish the program. Furthermore, in supporting her decision, the judge claimed that the state legislature had approved the red light camera program in 2006, and none of the plaintiffs in the case had even received any red light tickets before that time.
For those hoping to recoup dollars for tickets paid, or just be rid of the cameras altogether, all is not lost. While in this case the complainants challenged the constitutionality of the cameras, there is still another case pending that challenges how the city has implemented the program and the procedures they use when issuing tickets. This case has not been dismissed and is going to trial. The outcome may dictate a change in procedure related to notifications and challenges.
At Mitchell S. Sexner & Associates LLC, we receive questions from time to time about whether a red light camera ticket has an adverse effect on your driver’s license. Generally, the answer is “no” as these tickets are more in the nature of a parking ticket than a moving violation. Similar to parking tickets, a court cannot determine with certainty who the illegal parker or the red light driver was. For that reason, it should not appear on your record as a moving violation. But, both parking tickets and red light violations, as well as toll way IPASS violations, can affect your license if they go unpaid.
At Mitchell S. Sexner & Associates LLC our respected attorneys are aggressive and highly experienced and have been helping people for over 25 years. If you need legal representation, contact us at (312) 644-0444 for a free consultation to see how we can help you.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/redlight/ct-red-light-camera-ruling-met-20160401-story
