There’s an interesting case making its way through the legal system involving a camera ticket. A new law in Florida called the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act allows for tickets to be automatically sent out based on camera observations.

Camera Ticket citations are not new although they’ve always been controversial. In this case a twist to the law is what Judge Steven P. DeLuca decided violated the Constitution and gave him the authority to rule as he did.

The Camera Ticket Twist

The situation with this camera ticket law is that if the camera doesn’t get a good view of the person driving, the agency issues the ticket to the owner of the car who must prove they were not behind the wheel. If they cannot do so, then the ticket stands and they must pay the fine.

The problem here is apparent and obvious. The burden of proof is shifted to the accused which is diametrically opposed to the wording of the Constitution and our legal system in general.

This case itself is fairly narrow in application and only covers situation where the system cannot identify who is driving but it does offer up some interesting questions about the limits authority can put on We the People.

Conclusion

With the trend of the judiciary to give more and more trust to law-enforcement, it’s nice to have their authority rightfully challenged now and again. This case is far from over as the Florida Supreme Court has yet to rule, so I’ll be keeping my eyes open.

Tom Liberman