Suit challenges Arnold's red-light camera tickets

Arnold, the first Missouri community to install controversial red-light cameras, is now the first to face a federal lawsuit challenging their legality.

The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, seeks to outlaw a system that a growing number of cities describe as a safety tool, but which critics regard as a revenue engine.

It alleges that the ticketing process is illegal and unconstitutional as a violation of drivers' civil rights and a racketeering conspiracy that collects fines through fraud and extortion to benefit the city and its red-light camera contractor

It demands unspecified actual and punitive damages from Arnold, the mayor, police chief, City Council, a police officer and the contractor, American Traffic Solutions Inc.

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