Cedar Rapids Ends Deal With Agency That Collects Camera Fines
Is it a truce or an amnesty?
What appears to be an olive branch extended by the City of Cedar Rapids is still a bit unclear with news yesterday saying that the City had stopped "collecting unpaid camera violation fines".
According to the Gazette, Cedar Rapids will end it's relationship with collections company Municipal Collections of America which started in September 2017.
But while collections of past due fines may have ended, the traffic cameras aren't going away.
In January, the Iowa Supreme Court basically ruled the cameras do not violate laws of due process, thus allowing local municipalities to presumably restart issuing violations, which the City of Cedar Rapids says it intends to do at some unknown point in the future.
However, there are still legal battles being wrangled on other connected issues, including the question over those previously paid fines. Will a class action suit victory for the people require refunds be issued to all who were ticketed and did pay their fines? Not sure.
But this latest development may be a good reason to simply to start over from scratch, if only because the Supreme Court's decision points to the need to create a proper protocol and set of rules that can both enforce the safety measures and protect citizen's legal rights.
Ultimately it needs to do both.
In the meantime, let's all just slow down.