The state of Oregon has conceded it infringed on a man’s free speech rights after Swedish electrical engineer Mats Järlström began investigating how yellow traffic lights are timed in Oregon.
According to Oregon Live, the state’s board of examiners for engineering and land surveying unconstitutionally applied state law governing engineering practice when it claimed that Järlström was practicing engineering without a license, slapping him with a $500 fine and threatening prison time.
Speaking in federal court, senior assistant attorney general Christina L. Beatty-Walters admitted to violating the man’s rights, reimbursing him the $500 he paid for the fine.
However, Järlström and his lawyers aren’t satisfied. They assert that many others have been punished by the state board’s “overbroad” interpretation of state law and want the court to declare certain state laws and administrative rules as unconstitutional.
Järlström first landed on our radar back in April after starting to investigate traffic lights in the state after being ticketed for driving through a red light in 2013. Järlström, a former air force technician, discovered that red light cameras were misusing the mathematical formula for timing traffic lights.