Judge Tosses Red-Light Class Action

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (CN) - A federal judge dismissed a class action against Springfield's red-light traffic cameras. U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughery denied claims that the $800,000 in fines the city has collected violated drivers' due process rights.

Springfield's red-light ticket system was taken offline in March after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that Springfield's method of handling red-light tickets violated state law. The state Supreme Court ruled that Springfield had to handle the tickets through its court system, not through administrative hearings.

The class consists of drivers who had already paid the $100 fine before the Supreme Court's ruling.

"Plaintiffs cannot challenge on due process grounds the procedures they opted not to use," Laughery wrote. "Given the procedural posture of this case, the Court declines to exercise jurisdiction in the absence of a live claim or controversy. Plaintiffs have no standing to challenge the administrative procedures under § 106-161 because they cannot trace any deprivation or threatened deprivation of property to any of that ordinance's adjudicative procedures, having declined to avail themselves of any such procedures."

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