Iowa Supreme Court hears woman’s $75 speeding ticket case
DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa woman who says she was wrongly ticketed by an automated traffic camera when she wasn’t speeding has accomplished the unusual feat of getting the state Supreme Court to consider her $75 small-claims case.
For Marla Leaf, 67, it’s not about money, but about constitutional rights. Her attorney, James Larew, argued Wednesday that the city of Cedar Rapids, where Leaf lives and was ticketed, is violating equal protection and due process clauses of the Iowa Constitution in part because it delegates police power to Gatso USA — the private, for-profit company hired to run the equipment.
Leaf said she pursued the case all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court for a simple reason: She’s not guilty. Given her experience, she also questioned whether Cedar Rapids’ system is fair to motorists.
“Why should I pay for a ticket I didn’t do,” she asked after the hearing. “Why should others have to pay for tickets they didn’t do?”