Police Officer Written Red-Light Tickets Ruled Unconstitutional

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William Lewis
Examiner

One of the oldest traffic laws on Florida's books has been struck down by a Broward County judge.

Broward County Judge Fred Berman ruled this week that police officers can no longer ticket drivers for running red lights. Although binding only in his court, the ruling stems from an ongoing legal battle over red light cameras statewide.

Judge Berman said officer-written tickets were unconstitutional because they carry stiffer penalties than when a camera catches a red light violator.

Under Florida law, camera violators mail in a $158 fine and receive no notation on their driver license. An officer-written citation carries a penalty of $264, plus court costs and a possible three points assessed against the violators driver license.

While police officers ticket drivers that are personally responsible for their actions, camera violations cite the vehicle owner who is held responsible whether they were driving or not.

The state cannot punish people differently for the same crime, Berman ruled. This violates the equal protection clauses in both the U.S. and Florida Constitutions.

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Miami Beach Police Ordered Videographer At Gunpoint To Hand Over Phone

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Carlos Miller
Pixiq

Miami Beach police did their best to destroy a citizen video that shows them shooting a man to death in a hail of bullets Memorial Day.

First, police pointed their guns at the man who shot the video, according to a Miami Herald interview with the videographer.

Then they ordered the man and his girlfriend out the car and threw them down to the ground, yelling “you want to be fucking paparazzi?”

Then they snatched the cell phone from his hand and slammed it to the ground before stomping on it.

Then they placed the smashed phone in the videographer's back pocket as he was laying down on the ground.

And finally, they took him to a mobile command center where they snapped his photo and demanded the phone again, then took him to police headquarters where they conducted a recorded interview with him before releasing him.

But what they didn’t know was that Narces Benoit had removed the SIM card and hid it in his mouth, which means the video survived.

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6 Years In Prison For Legally Video Recording A Police Officer? Stand Up Against Injustice! (Video)

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RELATED ARTICLE:
Trial Of John Kurtz, Facing 6 Years For Videotaping Police

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ACTION ALERT: Trial of John Kurtz, Facing 6 Years in Prison for Videotaping Police

John Kurtz
Orlando Copwatch

Click Here for news story from January about arrest of John Kurtz

The Facts:
Just before 2 AM on January 1st, 2011 John Kurtz left a Private Party on Orange Avenue and Church Street, Downtown Orlando to investigate some apparent police activity on Church Street.

Kurtz approached the scene and videotaped the incident, which included the use of tasers, a violent take down, and a pepper spraying AFTER the suspect was subdued and in handcuffs.

Officer Adam Gruler repeatedly told Kurtz to go away and turn off the camera. When Kurtz informed Gruler that he knew his rights and wasn’t going anywhere, Gruler violently took Kurtz to the ground and arrested him.