Traffic-camera challenge heads to Ohio high court

4/9/2014
BLADE STAFF

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court will hear oral arguments June 11 regarding a challenge to Toledo’s traffic cameras.

Bradley L. Walker, a Kentucky man who paid a $120 fine after being caught by one of the city’s cameras, charges that Toledo’s appeals process usurps powers reserved to the courts.

He sued the city and RedFlex Traffic Systems, the private firm that operates the cameras.

The high court agreed to hear Toledo’s appeal of a 6th District Court of Appeals ruling in Mr. Walker’s favor.

The case has pitted constitutional-rights organizations and 28 state lawmakers against Toledo and other Ohio cities with similar red-light and speed-enforcement cameras.

Courts across Ohio have issued a series of conflicting decisions as to the camera programs’ constitutionality, while state legislators are considering a bill that would outlaw them.

One justice has already removed himself from the case: Justice Terrence O’Donnell, a Rocky River Republican. Justices do not have to state their reasons for recusal. A district appellate judge will be assigned to hear the case in his stead.