Speeding tickets are an annoying fact of life but most people simply pay the fine and hope to avoid getting points on their record.
Marla Leaf isn’t most people as she’s taking her $75 speeding ticket all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court.
According to NPR, Leaf was driving through Cedar Rapids in 2015 when a speed camera allegedly caught her going 68 mph (109 km/h) in a 55 mph (88 km/h) zone. Leaf contested the ticket and after nearly two and a half years the case has made it all the way to the state’s highest court.
This is extremely unusual but Leaf and her attorney contend the city of Cedar Rapids violated her constitutional rights and state law by delegating “police powers to the private company that maintains the speed cameras.”
Lower courts have rejected this argument as the police department issued the ticket. The attorney for the company that runs the cameras also stated “There is never a citation issued that does not get reviewed and approved by a police officer.”
It remains to be seen if the justices will be swayed by her arguments but the Iowa Department of Transportation has previously called for the removal of nearly one third of speed cameras on “primary highways and interstates” because they didn’t improve safety. However, three cities – including Cedar Rapids – sued to keep them on.
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