State Senator Escapes Paying 'Red Light' Court Costs
COLUMBUS, Ohio — For Dorothy Stills, life in her east side apartment does not come easy.
"Financially, it's very tough," Stills said.
The single mother and fulltime college student told 10 Investigates' Paul Aker that she scrapes to pay the bills and had to scrape even harder when the city claimed she broke the law.
A red light camera snapped a photo of her car allegedly making an illegal right turn. Stills thought she was not guilty and wanted to prove it, but she could not get a hearing without first paying a bond of $95, the full price of the ticket. That is Columbus law.
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Stills used a credit card that is paid for by child support meant for her daughters. While the card never cleared, Stills said that the city did not realize that until after a hearing officer found she was not guilty. Without the card, she would have automatically lost and gone to collections.
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The city does not make exceptions, except in the case of Ohio State Sen. Bill Seitz. The Cincinnati Republican's name was found in the pile of complaints. He did not want to pay upfront either and didn't, Aker reported.
"They agreed to let me have a hearing without posting the bond," Seitz said.
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/teninvestigates/stories/2010/07/20/story-columbus-red-light-cameras-tickets.html?sid=102
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