Supreme Court Threatens Red-Light Cameras

If you've ever gotten a ticket in the mail after allegedly blowing through a red light, a recent Supreme Court ruling should spike your interest.

Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, a case that dealt with a laboratory analysis in a drug case, may provide some insight. The defendant, Melendez-Diaz, argued that he had the right to question a lab worker who produced a certificate showing that cocaine was recovered at the scene of his arrest.

The high court agreed, ruling that information in lab reports can be used as evidence only if the defendant is given the opportunity to cross-examine the technician who did the testing.

This ruling is now setting precedent for cases involving speed cameras, which rely on certificates to confirm the reliability of each machine's reading.

Until this recent ruling, if you're anything like me, you probably proceed with caution every time you approach a yellow light at a busy intersection. Like me, you've also probably learned to check your surroundings -- making sure there's no camera attached to the traffic light taking photos of alleged driving infractions.

While local governments jumped on the bandwagon prior to the recession, installing speed cameras at high-traffic intersections as a way to generate revenue, the public was advised these new cameras would help reduce the number of law breakers and, more importantly, eliminate (or minimize) accidents in problem areas. According to the Wall Street Journal, one town in Illinois raked in more than $1 million in revenue from citations issued over a three-month period. Now that's a lot of dough.

Fast-forward to an economy in a recession, and metro areas such as Atlanta have halted the use of the traffic cameras, mostly because drivers have become keenly aware of the camera locations and heed the warnings.

Cities are losing money from the lack of citations being issued and the additional expenses incurred to operate the cameras. Are local governments more concerned about cash flow or public safety? And will employees of speed-camera companies be called into court to defend the results of the products they market and manufacture?

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