A lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Norfolk claimsChesapeake’s use of cameras to ticket drivers with speeding offenses is in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit was submitted Monday on behalf of Chesapeake resident Gerrod Seifert by Virginia Beach attorney and former state delegateTim Anderson, who previously filed state court complaints challenging how the cameras are used in Chesapeake and Suffolk.
The state court cases allege the cities are improperly allowing vendors to impersonate local government when collecting fees. In the federal case, Anderson argues that using the cameras to charge drivers violates their Sixth Amendment right to confront their accusers in court, which he said in the case of tickets issued through speed cameras would be the technician who certifies their accuracy.
“The certificates of radar accuracy come in automatically as evidence without any witness or cross-examination per Virginia law,” Anderson said in a statement. “The suit argues that this Virginia statutory allowance conflicts with the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
Seifert was cited for speeding in September 2022. He went to Chesapeake General District Court in May 2023 to challenge the ticket but was found guilty. Seifert was ordered to pay a $100 fine and $67 in court costs, which he paid, the lawsuit said.
The complaint states that in 2022, Chesapeake issued 70,656 photo speed violations, and collected more than $5.5 million in fines.
In order for the government to comply with the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause, Anderson said, it would need to require the technicians certifying the accuracy of the information to appear at court proceedings and be available for cross-examination.
The lawsuit asks for a statewide injunction preventing other drivers from being prosecuted under the law unless the technician is present in court. The lawsuit also asks that all previous findings of guilty in speed camera cases in which the technician wasn’t in court be invalidated. Seifert also asked that he be repaid for the fine and court costs he paid, as well as his attorney fees.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
