Arizona: Judge Throws Out Political Arrest Based on Photo Ticket
The Newspaper 6/8/2009
Arrowhead Justice Court Judge John C. Keegan last week dismissed the photo radar-based reckless driving charges filed against the Executive Director of the Arizona Republican Party. On May 6, officers from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS), which is headed by Democrat Roger Vanderpool, showed up at the state GOP headquarters with a speed camera ticket in hand to arrest Brett Mecum, 30. Judge Keegan took the case as an opportunity to reinforce his previous judgment that the Arizona law governing freeway speed cameras is unconstitutional.
"Speed cameras along Arizona 's freeways are an aspect of everyday life for a vast majority of Arizonans," Keegan wrote. "It is difficult to fathom a trip anywhere within the Phoenix Metropoitan area without the omnipresence of the camera. If the statute authorizing the cameras is unconstitutional, the Arizona legislature, by enacting this statute, violates the equal protection rights of thousands of Arizonans every day."
"Since citizens have no monetary or licensure incentive to enforce their constitutional right to equal protection, the court has left it upon itself to ensure that these individual rights are protected," Keegan wrote.
Source: Arizona v. Mecum ( Arrowhead Justice Court, Arizona , 6/1/2009)
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