Florida cities likely won’t have to pump the brakes on their automated red-light camera operations, thanks to a decision just handed down by the state’s Third District Court of Appeal.
The June 24 decision was handed down after The Ticket Clinic, which provides legal services to drivers charged with violations such as speeding or driving under the influence, challenged the city of Aventura’s red-light camera program. The Miami-Dade Circuit Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff’s position that because Florida cities give differing guidelines to their red-light system vendors, the variations violate a requirement that traffic statutes be uniform across the state.
But the appeals court ruled in the city’s favor, concluding that a previous case, City of Aventura v. Jimenez, affirms the current use of red-light cameras is lawful since police officers review the images obtained for probable cause. The vendor guidelines are not laws, and there is no lack of uniformity, according to Edward Guedes, a partner at Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman, who represented Aventura in the appeal.
“The decision basically agreed with us on all points,” Guedes told the Florida Record, noting that the Florida Supreme Court had previously upheld the guidelines in the red-light program.
In some ways, the Third District’s decision is significant, he said, but Guedes previously saw the issue as settled law, based on the previously litigated cases. That said, The Ticket Clinic is preparing a motion to the Third District for a rehearing.
“History has taught me that The Ticket Clinic never lets go of the bone it’s chewing on,” he said.
If the Third District rejects the law firm’s motion, an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court likely won’t be successful, according to Guedes.
“I will go out on a limb and say there is zero percent chance the Supreme Court will take the case,” he said.
In the initial complaint, motorist Lee Stein did not contest that photos taken by automated cameras in Aventura demonstrated probable cause that Stein violated a prohibition at an intersection against making a right-hand turn on a red light, according to the June 24 appeals court ruling. Instead, he contended that the vendor’s preliminary photo sorting is preempted under the state traffic code.
“It’s pretty much clear that the way the different governmental entities in Florida are operating their red-light camera programs is unlawful,” Guedes said.
Thousands of motions to dismiss red-light violations have been filed by The Ticket Clinic around the state. Even so, the appeals court ruling will not upend The Traffic Clinic’s business model, he said.
“They handle all sorts of tickets,” Guedes said. “It’s a broad range. It isn’t just red-light camera citations.”