Red-Light Class-Action Lawsuit Filed

SAN DIEGO -- A class-action lawsuit alleging civil rights violations was filed on behalf of all individuals issued citations as a result of the city of San Diego's red-light enforcement camera program.

According to 10News, more than 150,000 red-light camera tickets have been mailed out to drivers whose cars were photographed by the cameras.

The suit, filed Thursday in San Diego Superior Court, names as defendants, among others, the operator of the program, Lockheed Martin, and the city of San Diego.

An attorney representing the plaintiffs said that the red-light camera system is biased.

"Lockheed Martin can't come in and replace the police department and run a ticket program. It's a city function. It has to be done by an unbiased city agency such as police department," attorney Doug Gilliland said.

"This program was extremely profitable for the city and Lockheed Martin. In the short 18-months that they ran the program, they generated $33 million (that) they cut up and divided amongst themselves," Gilliland said.

Four groups of plaintiffs are seeking damages claiming that:

• Lockheed Martin was illegally allowed to run the red-light camera program.
• Citations were issued to car owners even though photographs showed the owner was not driving the vehicle.
• Lockheed Martin had an illegal financial incentive by taking a $70 share for each $271 ticket.
• The city of San Diego's "lack of oversight" renders evidence gathered by the red-light cameras "untrustworthy."

City Attorney Casey Gwinn's office issued a statement regarding the class-action suit, saying that it was without merit.

"We are confident a court will find no factual basis to support the allegations," the statement read.

City prosecutors will argue before Superior Court Judge Ronald Styn Tuesday that evidence obtained from red-light camera cases should be allowed at upcoming trials.

It will take approximately 12 months before this case reaches a courtroom, 10News reported. Anyone who has received a red-light camera ticket should receive a letter asking them if they want to join the lawsuit.

Earlier this month, Styn refused to dismiss 290 tickets issued as a result of the red-light camera system in San Diego, but called into question the city's lack of oversight of the program run by Lockheed Martin.

San Diego police officials said that the red-light cameras increase safety at city intersections because officers can't patrol every intersection.

All 19 red-light cameras in the city of San Diego have been turned off pending the completion of an inspection of the entire system.