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Lawyer calls red light cameras "unconstitutional"

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- As red light cameras continue ticketing drivers in violation across South Florida, a local attorney has stepped forward in hopes of putting the brakes on these devices.

Ted Hollander of the Ticket Clinic said he has already had many tickets thrown out in court. Now he hopes to have the cameras ruled unconstitutional, and he is pretty sure he has a good case. "The reason it's new, and why it's different from anything prior to July 1st is that now these are not code enforcement violations; they're real tickets," he said, "so if you don't take care of a real ticket, you're ultimately going to get your license suspended, which could turn into a criminal charge, ultimately."

Hollander argues that these cameras are flawed on many other fronts. "It's an equal protection issue," he explains about one of the other problems he has with the cameras, "in that if two people commit the exact infraction, one person commits an infraction and is seen by a camera, the next person is seen by a police officer. Those two people are treated differently, and the penalties are different, and there is no reasoning behind that other than for the way the person has been witnessed going through the light, and that's one reason why it violates equal protection."

There is another issue, according to Hollander. He said, when drivers cut through a red light camera and have their car's image captured by that camera they are being divided into two camps: those who can pay for the resulting ticket and those who cannot.

He said the problem comes for those who cannot afford to pay the ticket, as the ticket impacts a driver's record, as long as it is not paid. But those who do pay their ticket will have their record wiped clean of the ticket. "If somebody chooses too, they can pay the ticket initially and it will disappear," he said. "The problem is that the other people don't have the ability to continuously pay tickets, and for those people, they're going, and if they don't prevail in court, this will become part of their lifetime driving record."

Hollander is scheduled back in court next Wednesday to continue to argue these points before a judge. It remains unknown if the judge will issue a ruling on the issue on that day. However, this is an on-going battle, and Hollander really believes there is a big problem with these red light cameras.

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