ARTICLE UPDATE: 2/25/19
Since this post was written, much has been happening in the Red Light Camera Ticket world. First of all, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in Jimenez v. State, on May 3, 2018, that the cities are within their rights to have these cameras installed and issue tickets. As soon as that ruling came down, it caused a huge blow to our (and all attorneys) ability to fight them. Basically, once that ruling came down, the courts had to allow the cities to write tickets and it made it nearly impossible to fight them successfully.
Now, I say it’s almost impossible to fight “successfully” it is because it has always been our philosophy at Unger & Kowitt to only charge people money to fight them IF we firmly believe that we can beat them and get them thrown out. Once that ruling came down, it became obvious that Courts were no longer going to allow the attorneys to make motions or arguments to get cases thrown out. Therefore, in almost every instance, we stopped handling these types of cases.
The one exception is if you received a Red Light Camera Ticket and forgot about it, or missed your deadline to pay the $158. If that did happen to you, your notice of violation automatically turned into a Uniform Traffic Citation and now you must pay $277.00 AND you will receive a mark on your driving record. We are fighting those mainly to keep the adjudication from appearing on your driving record, which we can do. But again, if you have the option of paying $158, we still recommend that at the moment because it’s the better and cheaper option.
If you notice, I did write “at the moment” because as you write this, new challenges are being made to the way some cities are ticketing drivers. Mainly, those making a right turn on red, and I believe those will be successful soon. As soon as that’s the case, I will blog again and keep you posted.
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*** 7/29/2013- To read new information in regards to red light camera tickets please visit our updated blog post. ***
There is great news in the Red Light Camera Ticket world. A Broward County judge has ruled some Red Light Camera Tickets are unconstitutional and has thrown them out.
Now, before you run out and start running every red light you see, let me explain the ruling.
For years, I've been railing against these red light camera tickets. A quick glance at our blog will show at least half a dozen posts where I detail all my arguments against these money making devices being crammed down our throats. Suffice to say, I have a host of problems with them. And based on the feedback I'm getting, I know you do too.
Well, I'm pleased to report, little by little, the tide seems to be turning.
Judge Steven DeLuca, a Broward County Judge just signed an order where he agreed with one of my many complaints. (It wasn't my motion he ruled on, but I've certainly raised these points here in the blog). Here's the ruling in a nutshell.
Prior to the ruling, if two people owned a car together, meaning two names were on the registration, and that car went through a red light camera intersection, the name that appeared first on the registration was the one that would get the ticket.
How crazy is that? Who's making these ridiculous decisions? What if three names appeared on the registration, would they resort to eenie, meenie, miney, mo?
Judge DeLuca's ruling says that by choosing the top name on the registration, it is a clear violation of the equal protection clause of the constitution which deals with treating similarly situated people differently (which in legal terms is a big "no-no").
It's become so obvious that the people in charge could care less about the constitution and only about sticking citizens with a huge fine in the hopes that they just shut up and pay. Well, guess what? This ruling gives a voice to the people who refuse to just shut up and pay.
As I've been saying, we need to keep fighting back against this kind of nonsense. Only by fighting back and voicing opposition will anything be done.
This ruling does not apply to all red light camera tickets that have been issued, so please don't run into every court using this argument. At the moment, it's just this issue and only in front of Judge DeLuca.
If you have a red light camera ticket and want to fight back, I encourage you to do so. But if you want a professional opinion for free, we're happy to watch your video and discuss your case with you.
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