redlight092306

Court upholds ruling against traffic cameras

The state appeals court slammed the brakes on Minneapolis' use of traffic cameras to ticket people for running red lights. But the battle isn't over yet.

By Joy Powell, Star Tribune

Last update: September 23, 2006 - 12:17 AM

The city of Minneapolis' use of unmanned traffic cameras to ticket owners of cars that go through red lights is illegal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals agreed Friday.

The appellate judges upheld an earlier decision by Hennepin County District Judge Mark Wernick that use of the cameras is unconstitutional.

In a news release, a spokesman for the Minneapolis city attorney's office said Friday that the city would review the ruling to come up with options for moving forward. The city has 30 days to appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which can decide whether or not to hear the case.

Wernick had found earlier that use of the cameras violated a state law, the Minnesota Highway Traffic Regulation Act, with conflicting burdens of proof of guilt. People received tickets simply because they were the registered owner of the motor vehicle.

Wernick put on hold cases in which tickets have yet to be paid.

But thousands of others have paid fines averaging $142 each and collectively totaling more than $2 million, said Howard Bass, a Burnsville attorney representing a man charged with a petty misdemeanor after his car was photographed going through a red light. That went to the Minnesota Appeals Court.

Bass said that by requiring the driver to prove someone else was driving the car at the time of the violation, the ordinance "stood the presumption of innocence and the burden-of-proof requirement on their heads."

Whether people will get money back depends on the outcome of a federal class-action suit that has been stayed in U.S. District Court, pending the Appeals Court decision.

Joy Powell • 612-673-7750 • jpowell@startribune.com