Red light cameras headed to the Minnesota Supreme Court

We have done a few posts about the Minnesota red light camera saga. The ACLU-Minnesota initially challenged the ruling in district court and won. And won again at the Court of Appeals. And now the Minnesota Supreme Court wants to look at the case.

The district court shut down the red light cameras and overturned the “photo cop” citations on the grounds that the law unlawfully shifted the burden of proof from the state to the owner of a car caught on tape. The Court of Appeals essentially supported the district court’s ruling, finding fault with the way the law forces the defendant/owner of the vehicle to either confess or point the finger at someone else.

The actual legal justification for overturning the law is a bit more technical, but the above is what it boils down to.

It is interesting that the Minnesota Supreme Court decided to take the case. Does it want to reinforce the Court of Appeals’ ruling, overturn it, or change it in some way? One of the above has to be true, and it does not seem likely that the Court would take the case simply to ratify the appellate decision.

The parties now have about six months of briefing and preparing for oral argument. The Minnesota Supreme Court may take another three months to decide the case.