[Normy]

Check this out- a judge has ruled that cops in Florida cannot write tickets for running red lights!

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In yet another odd wrinkle of the ongoing dispute over red-light cameras, a Broward County judge ruled last week that police can't ticket drivers for running red lights.

County Court Judge Fred Berman decided that tickets for running red lights are unconstitutional because they carry a higher fine than red light camera citations — $260 versus $158 – and impose points on the driver's license.

That violates the United States Constitution's and the Florida Constitution's equal protection provisions, Berman ruled May 31.

Florida's Attorney General will appeal the ruling, said spokesperson Jennifer Davis.

Berman's ruling doesn't affect the state laws yet, said attorney Ted Hollander. He got a ticket dismissed for a driver who got a red-light ticket from an officer in Davie.

But if the ruling went to the Florida Supreme Court, that would force the state to get rid of one of the two statutes, Hollander said.

He added that this "should be the beginning of the end" for red light cameras.

"If it's about safety, they'll have to stick with the officers," he said. "The cameras are sold as a safety program, but if you look at the research, it points to more accidents as a result of the cameras, to rear-end collisions going up."

A study earlier this year in Fort Lauderdale, for example, supported that claim.

Similar cases to this one are pending in Miami Dade and Palm Beach county courts, Hollander said.

"This kind of challenge could reach a state court," he said. "…It's a huge issue. There's so much money on the line."