The Deal with Traffic Light Fines
In light of a recent ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court, the red light camera program in the City of Springfield, Missouri has been declared unconstitutional. As a result, the 13 cameras have been turned off. The city has also hired an independent counsel to look at an appeal of the decision.
The question all over town is this: what to do with the fines that have already been collected by the city? I could certainly see a string of suits coming. All pending tickets were suspended, as of the day of the ruling.
It sounds strange, but I think the city ought to keep the money. It really worries me when we start retroactively applying the rule of law to things willy nilly. At the time of the fines, the law was legal. Now it is not. I am not sure I would have dropped the other pending tickets either. Let people have their day in court.
It may be worth noting that there are some statistics floating the Internet that showed the red light cameras were reducing the amount of people running red lights in town. If the issue is due process, perhaps the law can be modified. It certainly seems to slow people down.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the red light camera program in the city of Springfield. The deal with traffic light fines will not go away soon. We’ll just have to see how it plays out. If you have a differing opinion, let me know. I would love to get a public debate started here.
Raymond C. Province
The Celtic Ozarkian