Girard should get the picture

It should come as no surprise that Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court ruled that Girard's use of unmanned cameras owned by a private company to police its streets was illegal and unconstitutional.
Any other ruling would have been an invitation to municipal anarchy.
The surprise is that no one in Girard apparently asked some simple questions. Is it right for a city to abrogate its police power? Should citizens be subject to fines for speeding on the basis of a camera that is neither owned nor operated by the city? Aren't we setting up a system here that gives a citizen almost no chance to successfully challenge a ticket -- and isn't that inherently wrong?
Twisting the law
Girard city officials were too cute for their baby pictures in trying to get around the state law, the Ohio Constitution and the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says a person has a right to face his accuser. Speeding violations caught on camera would be civil matters, not criminal matters, Girard officials said, and so none of those legal niceties would apply.
It was subterfuge, and, in the end, it was treated as such by Judge Stuard.
It was also transparently greedy. While some city officials talked about their desire to slow down traffic and protect lives, the existence of the traffic cameras was advertised with tiny little signs. Had they wanted to slow drivers down, they'd have put up billboards.
The object was not traffic enforcement, it was revenue enhancement. The city had its eyes on its $60 cut of the $85 fines.
Stuard ordered the city to discontinue use of the camera unless it is used in accordance with state statutes -- meaning that traffic violations are criminal offenses that can be challenged in court.
If Girard or any other city wants to use short cuts such as cameras on consignment to enforce the law, those municipalities are going to have to make the case in Columbus and win changes in state law.
In the meantime, they are going to have to issue their tickets the old-fashioned way. Have them written by a police officer who witnesses the offense and is prepared to testify in court.
That's the right way. The American way.