A recent court ruling required the city of Minneapolis to refund money to 167 vehicle owners who challenged their traffic tickets. The tickets were given out by the city’s automatic ticketing machine called “PhotoCop”. Earlier this year, the Minnesota Supreme Court deemed the ticket camera system illegal because it videotaped vehicles without proving who was behind the wheel.
The city has decided not to appeal the ruling and will refund the illegal ticket money to the 167 vehicle owners who challenged their tickets. However, the city refuses to refund money to the 15,000 to 20,000 drivers who already paid their tickets. The city’s position is that if those people want their money back, they can sue for it. And much to their chagrin, there has been a lawsuit filed in federal court that aims to put the illegally-collected money back in motorists’ pockets.
It’s clear that Minneapolis was in the wrong here and yet instead of admitting their mistake and refunding the money, they have chosen to use their legal resources against the people they financially harmed. And the final slap in the face is that they’re using taxpayers’ funds to do it.
