Rael
07-28-2009, 11:07 PM
Judge tackles red-light cameras in St. Louis
By Heather Ratcliffe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/26/2009
ST. LOUIS — Red-light cameras created a new foe last December when one flashed on a 1997 Volvo heading south on Kingshighway in St. Louis.
A month later, a violation letter appeared at the home of the car's owner — veteran St. Louis judge Robert H. Dierker, a legal stickler who has stepped out from behind the bench before to challenge the justice system.
Now, Dierker has launched a legal campaign against a program that no Missouri attorney before could bring down. He's demanded a jury trial on the ticket. In the meantime, he's asked a fellow circuit judge to dismiss the case, claiming the ticket violates his constitutional rights.
Dierker's motion cites multiple arguments. He says:
— The violation mailed to him did not follow proper procedures required by the Missouri Supreme Court rules.
— The ticket violates a vehicle owner's Fifth and Fourteenth amendment rights that guarantee due process.
— The city ordinance establishing the program imposes penalties "on an arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious manner and without fair notice."
— The program violates Missouri's constitution by imposing a license or fee without a vote of the people.
— The ordinance does not prescribe a specific penalty for the violation.
Dierker declined to comment about his case, saying he'll let it work its way through the legal system.
The case is set for trial Sept. 28 before Circuit Judge Ralph H. Jaynes, a retired judge who has been visiting the circuit to help with a backlog of cases.
St. Louis City Counselor Patricia Hageman declined to comment about the case.
Several attorneys have tried similar challenges in the past. City officials said 51 cases, which are usually adjudicated at the St. Louis Municipal Court, had been appealed to the St. Louis Circuit Court. None has ever been heard in Dierker's courtroom.
Most attorneys argued that the red-light ticket either violated constitutional rights or that state law pre-empts the local ordinance establishing the program, said Ann Horner, an attorney with the Traffic Law Center.
Each time, Associate Judge Elizabeth Hogan ruled in favor of the city, experts said.
"I think every argument has been made," Horner said. "Until someone takes it up to the Court of Appeals, for now, the camera tickets in St. Louis are legal."
Thursday, a federal judge in St. Louis threw out a challenge to the cameras in Arnold.
The tickets have also survived political attacks. State lawmakers attempted unsuccessfully to ban red-light camera tickets this year. In St. Louis, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed introduced a bill seeking additional warnings at intersections with red-light cameras.
City officials have said red-light cameras are effective, and the officials have added more cameras as a result. The number grew from four in May 2007 to 51 now. The city estimates the cameras generated as much as $2.8 million in municipal revenue for the last fiscal year.
Horner said she hoped Dierker was successful, though she had not read his arguments.
"Maybe he'll present something with a little twist," she said.
The last time Dierker took on the legal system was in a book he wrote in 2006 bashing liberal bias in the judiciary. Some speculated that the book, titled "The Tyranny of Tolerance: A Sitting Judge Breaks the Code of Silence to Expose the Liberal Judicial Assault," could have cost him his job.
Dierker defended the book's themes, welcomed the criticism and said his own attorneys said the book didn't break any rules.
By Heather Ratcliffe
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/26/2009
ST. LOUIS — Red-light cameras created a new foe last December when one flashed on a 1997 Volvo heading south on Kingshighway in St. Louis.
A month later, a violation letter appeared at the home of the car's owner — veteran St. Louis judge Robert H. Dierker, a legal stickler who has stepped out from behind the bench before to challenge the justice system.
Now, Dierker has launched a legal campaign against a program that no Missouri attorney before could bring down. He's demanded a jury trial on the ticket. In the meantime, he's asked a fellow circuit judge to dismiss the case, claiming the ticket violates his constitutional rights.
Dierker's motion cites multiple arguments. He says:
— The violation mailed to him did not follow proper procedures required by the Missouri Supreme Court rules.
— The ticket violates a vehicle owner's Fifth and Fourteenth amendment rights that guarantee due process.
— The city ordinance establishing the program imposes penalties "on an arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious manner and without fair notice."
— The program violates Missouri's constitution by imposing a license or fee without a vote of the people.
— The ordinance does not prescribe a specific penalty for the violation.
Dierker declined to comment about his case, saying he'll let it work its way through the legal system.
The case is set for trial Sept. 28 before Circuit Judge Ralph H. Jaynes, a retired judge who has been visiting the circuit to help with a backlog of cases.
St. Louis City Counselor Patricia Hageman declined to comment about the case.
Several attorneys have tried similar challenges in the past. City officials said 51 cases, which are usually adjudicated at the St. Louis Municipal Court, had been appealed to the St. Louis Circuit Court. None has ever been heard in Dierker's courtroom.
Most attorneys argued that the red-light ticket either violated constitutional rights or that state law pre-empts the local ordinance establishing the program, said Ann Horner, an attorney with the Traffic Law Center.
Each time, Associate Judge Elizabeth Hogan ruled in favor of the city, experts said.
"I think every argument has been made," Horner said. "Until someone takes it up to the Court of Appeals, for now, the camera tickets in St. Louis are legal."
Thursday, a federal judge in St. Louis threw out a challenge to the cameras in Arnold.
The tickets have also survived political attacks. State lawmakers attempted unsuccessfully to ban red-light camera tickets this year. In St. Louis, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed introduced a bill seeking additional warnings at intersections with red-light cameras.
City officials have said red-light cameras are effective, and the officials have added more cameras as a result. The number grew from four in May 2007 to 51 now. The city estimates the cameras generated as much as $2.8 million in municipal revenue for the last fiscal year.
Horner said she hoped Dierker was successful, though she had not read his arguments.
"Maybe he'll present something with a little twist," she said.
The last time Dierker took on the legal system was in a book he wrote in 2006 bashing liberal bias in the judiciary. Some speculated that the book, titled "The Tyranny of Tolerance: A Sitting Judge Breaks the Code of Silence to Expose the Liberal Judicial Assault," could have cost him his job.
Dierker defended the book's themes, welcomed the criticism and said his own attorneys said the book didn't break any rules.