Meanwhile, the high court announced Thursday in a Cleveland speed camera case that the administrative processes many jurisdictions use are fine. The court didn’t write another opinion, however, the justices merely issued a directive that they were deciding Jodka v. Cleveland was based on the Toledo case settled last year.
The New Miami case has bounced back and forth between the 12th District Court of Appeals and the village’s attorney, Wilson Weisenfelder, who has again appealed the common pleas court’s decision certifying the case as a class action.
Last month Judge Michael Oster, who took over Sage’s bench affirmed his predecessor’s ruling on both the constitutional issue and certifying the case as a class action. New Miami essentially asked Oster to overturn Sage’s ruling that the speed catchers violate a driver’s right to due process based on an Ohio Supreme Court decision in Walker v. Toledo that allow administrative hearings.
Weisenfelder also asked Oster to clarify whether the plaintiffs still have a case at all.
“This court’s decision and entry of Feb. 25, 2015, suggests the court’s decision and entry of March 11, 2014, remains totally unaffected by the subsequent decision in Walker,” Weisenfelder wrote. “(The) defendant seeks clarification as to whether Count 1 of (the) plaintiff’s first amended complaint can proceed given the Supreme Court’s unequivocal validation of a municipality’s home-rule authority to adopt an administrative hearing process for traffic law violations.”
One of the plaintiffs attorneys, Charlie H. Rittgers, said previously he fully expects the high court to rule for the plaintiffs on the constitutional due process questions once they are presented. The cases that have gone to the high court so far deal with different issues than those at hand locally.
“I hardly think it’s going to be a big hurdle for us to jump in order to prove it’s facially unconstitutional because it denies the motorists their due process rights,” Rittgers said.
Since the law has now changed, the appellate court decisions will now be needed in order to decide if the plaintiffs will or will not be reimbursed.
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