NBC 6’s Willard Shepard has the details as a new lawsuit is taking aim at whether or not a city can let a private company issue red light tickets.
Red light cameras have been at the center of controversy since they began to be implemented across South Florida. Numerous lawsuits have been filed over technical matters, but a new lawsuit is claiming that drivers shouldn’t have been fined because it wasn’t police who were issuing the citations.
“It’s unfair, it’s unconstitutional, it’s inappropriate, and they keep continuing to do it,” said Gary Ostrow, the plaintiff in the new lawsuit. “They are motivated by the revenue. It’s all about the money. It’s always about the money.”
Ostrow’s attorney, Gary Kollin, filed the lawsuit to try to get $300 back that his client paid. But, he’s also trying to get money refunded to anyone who either challenged a ticket or didn’t agree to pay in the allotted time.
“All the people who had traffic citations issued and had to pay the money are entitled to have their money back,” said Kollin.
Kollin said a private company, American Traffic Solutions, which was hired by the city of Fort Lauderdale, was actually issuing the citations and it has no law enforcement power to do so.
“The only way a ticket could be issued is by the cities and the cities contracted this private company delegating this authority to them outside the statutory authority,” said Kollin.
Ostrow’s lawsuit said an appellate court has already determined that a city can’t delegate its job to the private company. Thursday’s filling by Kollin is the third filed against a Broward city in recent weeks.
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You should still pay the red light tickets if you receive one, but keep the documentation as the cases make their way through the court system.
NBC 6’s Willard Shepard reached out to the city of Fort Lauderdale and other Broward cities facing lawsuits over the cameras, but none have responded as of yet.
