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Woman's Lawsuit Threatens To Remove Red-Light Cameras
2007-02-05
NewsChannel5 chief investigator Duane Pohlman has discovered a key lawsuit which may force cities to not only remove red-light cameras, but refund all the fines. Pohlman said it all started because an Akron woman drew the line. "I was angry enough to say, "I'm not paying this ticket. You know, they can do whatever they're going to do, but I'm not going to pay it," said Kelly Mendenhall. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In November 2005, Mendenhall got a ticket from a red-light camera. It stated she was going 39 mph in a 25 mph zone on Copley Road in Akron. Mendenhall is married to Warner Mendenhall, an attorney known for fighting government. "He said, 'Well, you're going to have to pay the ticket or I'm going to have to sue somebody.' I said, 'Well, I guess you're going to have to sue somebody,'" she said. And he did, Pohman reported. Warner Mmendenhall is now representing his wife in the case before the Ohio Supreme Court, challenging all red-light cameras in the state of Ohio. "It is big brother absolutely," Mendenhall said. The Mendenhall case challenges all red-light-cameras on constitutional grounds. He claimed the cameras and the tickets deny due process. In the suit, Warner and his wife contend the cities have turned a criminal violation in to a civil matter with a sole purpose of making money. "Cities cannot just take what are crimes and make them civil offenses. People cannot afford these fines. The fine my wife faced was $150," Mendenhall said. In discovery, Mendenhall revealed thousands of mistakes, Pohlman reported. Akron's cameras captured speeders 4,000 times, but because of problems or procedure, those tickets were tossed. Pohlman caught mistakes in Cleveland, too. A ticket issued to the wrong plate, for the wrong vehicles and the wrong speed. The red-light cameras are now facing a real legal challenge thanks to an attorney, Pohlman reported. "The red light is a flashpoint of where we're going as a country, as a society about individual liberties," Warner said.
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