Judge allows suit alleging Chicago botched red-light camera notices; millions of dollars at stake
A Chicago judge has refused to toss a lawsuit alleging that Chicago failed to follow its own requirements when notifying drivers of red-light camera violations.
Judge Kathleen Kennedy of Cook County ruled on Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Plaintiffs’ attorney Jacie Zolna says he will now seek class-action status in the case, which could require the city to refund tens of millions of dollars.
“The city expects its citizens to follow the law — so much so that they’re putting cameras everywhere to watch us,” Zolna told the Sun-Times. “Yet, they’re not following the law themselves. It’s a very ironic situation.”
The due-process suit claims the city failed to send drivers a second notice of violation before issuing a determination of liability, and wrongly indicated that late penalties will apply if payment isn’t made within 21 days of the liability determination. The actual grace period is 25 days, the suit says.
Kennedy ruled the three name plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged facts that Chicago’s notice blunders violate “fundamental principles of justice, equity and good conscience.”
Chicago Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey told the Sun-Times in a statement that the city “continues to believe that the plaintiffs’ claims are legally insufficient” and that no refunds are due.
“The plaintiffs do not dispute that they violated the law and that they received notices of these violations. It is the city’s position that the plaintiffs are not entitled to any recovery, let alone any refunds,” McCaffrey said in the statement.
