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Judge Brings Stoplight Cameras to Screeching Halt

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Aron Kahn, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Mar. 15--Minneapolis' "Photo Cop" system came to a full stop Tuesday when a judge said it violated state law.

In a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union, Hennepin County District Judge Mark Wernick tagged the city's automated system for catching red-light runners as illegal, a ruling that also has stalled St. Paul's inquiry into creating a program of its own.

Minneapolis immediately stopped the program and began studying a possible appeal. Meanwhile, 7,000 people holding unpaid citations should hang onto their tickets, Chief Judge Lucy Wieland said.

If the city does not decide to appeal within five days, Photo Cop will be nullified, and so will the $142 fines. Under an appeal, the citations would go into a pending file.

Wernick foiled Photo Cop because the Minneapolis City Council "had no authority to enact" a program that is inconsistent with state law, he wrote.

Specifically, Photo Cop ticketed vehicle owners, not drivers, a procedure that ran counter to the uniformity of Minnesota laws governing moving violations. So Wernick's ruling, in effect, means the Minneapolis Photo Cop ordinance is unconstitutional.

Howard Bass, a Burnsville attorney who argued the case for the ACLU of Minnesota, called the decision "a victory for the due-process right of all Minnesotans."

Bass' client, Daniel Kuhlman, a 29-year-old Minneapolis computer consultant who challenged his ticket, said he's sorry the city will lose revenue from the program, but the judge made the right decision.

"I feel like people like myself who were being wrongly accused can't help but feel vindicated," he said.

Police Lt. Greg Reinhardt, manager of the automated program, said it issued 26,000 tickets in six months and was responsible for a 16-percent reduction in accidents at the 12 intersections where cameras were posted.

The system -- officially called "Stop on Red" -- is leased by the city for about $1 million a year over five years, police and city officials said. Backers have said Photo Cop would raise between $200,000 and $1 million annually when running.

Under Photo Cop, which started in July, a picture was taken of the offending car's license plate and a citation was sent to the owner. The owner could contest it by demonstrating that the car's title had been transferred or by giving police the name of the person who was driving at the time.

If the person fingered as the driver denied being at the wheel, the ticket was reissued to the owner. If the owner still denied responsibility, the matter was supposed to go to court.

In his challenge, Kuhlman claimed he was innocent, but never wanted to identify the driver of his vehicle.

Because Kuhlman didn't pay the fine, he didn't need to ask for a refund as part of his court case. So the issue of a rebate was not addressed by Judge Wernick.

But Chief Judge Wieland said people who paid the fines could request a rebate from the court, and the matter would be considered.

University of Minnesota law professor Steve Simon said the request for retroactive nullification is "not an all-or-nothing thing," and the matter would be weighed against other considerations.

But Simon said it would behoove some people to make the attempt. Beyond receiving a rebate, it would be important for some to seek a nullification of the citation, since several moving violations on a driving record can raise insurance premiums and lead to suspension or revocation of a license, he said.

The St. Paul Police Department was researching Photo Cop when the lawsuit was filed, and had reached the point of seeking proposals to implement it. Now, everything is on hold.

"We're not going to move forward until we know that the law the whole process it based on is going to face the constitutional challenge," St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington said.

Bass said it was his understanding that the program could be legal if the state Legislature were to pass a law allowing it, but attempts to pass such a bill have failed. Many cities around the nation use similar programs in accordance with their state laws, he said.

Mara Gottfried contributed to this article. Aron Kahn can be reached at akahn@pioneerpress.com or 612-338-6516.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

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Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)

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