TALLAHASSEE – The state Supreme Court should reject an appeal that argues a local red-light camera program flies in the face of Florida traffic statutes, Attorney General Ashley Moody states in a brief filed earlier this month.
In Lee Stein v. City of Aventura and Florida Attorney General, the plaintiff appealed a decision by the Third District Court of Appeal, which upheld Aventura’s guidelines on how red-light camera photos are sorted. The appeals court concluded that the process does not violate a requirement for uniform traffic laws statewide.
Stein acknowledged that Aventura’s automated cameras took pictures that showed a likelihood he committed an infraction. But he contends that Florida cities’ differing photo-sorting guidelines result in red-light violators having a greater chance of being cited in some cities over others. The result is traffic enforcement that’s not uniform and thus illegal, according to Stein’s complaint.
His complaint also contends the appeals court did not correctly apply a key Florida Supreme Court red-light camera case – Jimenez v. State. But Moody and the attorney representing the city of Aventura disagree.
“The (appeals) court explained that the guidelines are instructions each city gives its red-light vendor regarding the contractual task of sorting camera images and that they do not define traffic violations and are not traffic laws that apply to the driving public,” Moody’s brief states.
Edward Guedes, a Miami attorney who represents Aventura in the litigation, said the high court has no basis to accept the case.
“We (the city of Aventura) also filed a brief on jurisdiction ... arguing that the Florida Supreme Court should not review the Third District’s decision,” Guedes told the Florida Record in an email. “As we explained in that brief, we do not believe there is a basis for the court to exercise jurisdiction because the Third District’s decision is perfectly in keeping with the Florida Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Jimenez v. State.”
The respondents do not expect the Supreme Court to take up the case, he said.
“However, if the court were to grant review, we remain confident that the city’s program will be upheld as lawful, just as it has twice before during the Jimenez litigation,” Guedes said.
The Stein case, which involves a red-light citation dating back to 2014, is one of multiple lawsuits filed over red-light camera issues in recent years. A Miami-Dade County judge initially sided with Stein’s position prior to the appeals court deciding in favor of the city.