TRUMBULL COUNTY Judge postpones hearing on suit against Girard traffic cameras

The former councilman might take donations toward the legal costs.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Area residents are going to have to wait just a little longer for a court decision on the legality of Girard's using a camera to catch speeders.
A court hearing on a lawsuit filed in Trumbull Count Common Pleas Court against the camera system has been postponed so the man who filed the suit himself can get a lawyer.
The city has been using a video camera and radar detector system to record speeding violations since August. Offenders pay fines by mail. The violation is a civil offense that carries no points on a driver's record.
In a self-penned lawsuit, Daniel Moadus of Girard says that the city is in violation of Ohio and U.S. constitutions and state law because Ohio "has deemed that traffic violations are criminal offenses," and that the city does not have the right to "change crimes to civil offenses."
The suit says the city also violates state law by not assigning points for the violations and for not distributing a portion of the fine money to the state, as it does for traffic citations not issued with use of the cameras.
Further, it states that the ordinance violates due process requirements in the U.S. Constitution by requiring the car owner to pay the fine -- regardless of whether he or she was the one driving at the time.
Moadus, a former Girard councilman, had asked Judge John Stuard to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the use of the camera until the case is heard.
Hearing postponed
A Wednesday hearing before Judge Stuard was postponed for 30 days with no injunction on the use of the camera. The extra time was given so that Moadus can find an attorney.
Moadus said he was willing to "go it alone" representing himself in the suit against the city. However, a previous ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court made that impossible, he said Judge Stuard told him during a meeting of both side in his chambers.
In the suit Moadus asks to "step into the shoes" of the city law director and institute a lawsuit on behalf of the municipal corporation, because, he said, the law director failed to take action and stop use of the camera. Such a suit, Moadus said, requires an attorney, according to the judge.
Moadus said that hiring an attorney is a cost he did not anticipate but that he will continue because he feels the use of the camera is wrong.
Moadus said he is considering putting together a small organization and accepting donations from other concerned citizens toward the legal costs. He anticipates a lengthy and expensive court battle.
The city is represented by the Akron-based law firm Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, LLP. City officials said the firm issued to the city several months ago an opinion on why use of the camera system is not illegal.