Shavitz v. City of High Point

• Decision Date: 09 July 2003
• Docket Number: No. 1:01CV00662.,1:01CV00662.
• Citation: 270 F.Supp.2d 702
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
• Parties: Henry H. SHAVITZ, for himself and others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF HIGH POINT, a municipal corporation, Electronic Data Systems Corporation, a Corporation doing business in North Carolina, Allen L. Pearson, II, Peek Traffic, Inc., a Corporation doing business in North Carolina, Phil Wylie, Sreekanth Nandagiri, Arnold Koonce, Mayor of the City of High Point, Albert A. Campbell, M. Christopher Whitley, Aaron Lightner, Ronald B. Wilkins, M.C. Rowe, William S. Bencini, Jr., David B. Wall, each members of the High Point City Council, Strib Boynton, City Manager of the City of High Point, and The Guilford County Board of Education, Defendants.

Page 702

270 F.Supp.2d 702

Henry H. SHAVITZ, for himself and others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF HIGH POINT, a municipal corporation, Electronic Data Systems Corporation, a Corporation doing business in North Carolina, Allen L. Pearson, II, Peek Traffic, Inc., a Corporation doing business in North Carolina, Phil Wylie, Sreekanth Nandagiri, Arnold Koonce, Mayor of the City of High Point, Albert A. Campbell, M. Christopher Whitley, Aaron Lightner, Ronald B. Wilkins, M.C. Rowe, William S. Bencini, Jr., David B. Wall, each members of the High Point City Council, Strib Boynton, City Manager of the City of High Point, and The Guilford County Board of Education, Defendants.

No. 1:01CV00662.

United States District Court, M.D. North Carolina.

July 9, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Marshall Hurley, Marshall Hurley, PLLC, Robert Lauris Johnston, Deceased, Hunter Johnston Elam & Benjamin, PLLC, for Plaintiff.

Gusti W. Frankel, Alison Raney Bost, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice POD 84, James R. Fox, Kevin Guy Williams, Bell Davis & Pitt, P.A., Winston-Salem, NC, Teresa Deloatch Bryant, Elizabeth V. Lafollette, Robert James King, III, Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard, Greensboro, NC, for Defendants.

Isaac T. Avery, III, Harold F. Asians, N.C Department of Justice, Raleigh, NC, for Movant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BEATY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This case involves several Motions for Summary Judgment. After first filing an Answer and Request for Declaratory Judgment [Document # 13] on August 3, 2001, Defendant Guilford County Board of Education ("The Board") filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [Document # 21] on March 1, 2002. Defendants City of High Point, Phil Wylie, Sreekanth Nandagiri, Arnold Koonce, Albert A. Campbell, M. Christopher Whitley, Aaron Lightner, Ronald B. Wilkins, M.C. Rowe, William S. Bencini, Jr., David B. Wall, Strib Boynton (the "City Defendants"), and Peek Traffic, Inc. ("Peek") filed a Motion for Summary Judgment [Document # 23] on March 4, 2002. On March 5, 2002, Defendants Electronic Data Systems Corporation ("EDS") and Allen L. Pearson, II ("Pearson") filed a Motion for Summary Judgment [Document # 27].¹ The State of North Carolina, having been granted leave to enter the case as an intervenor by an Order filed October 9, 2001 [Document # 16], filed a Motion to Dismiss And/Or for Summary Judgment and Remand [Document # 31] on March 11, 2002. Finally, on March 13, 2002, Plaintiff Henry H. Shavitz ("Plaintiff') filed a Motion for Summary Judgment [Document # 34].

For the following reasons, the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the City Defendants and Peek [Document # 23] will be GRANTED IN PART to the extent that all claims against these Defendants will be dismissed, with the exception of Claims Three, Five, and Six which will be remanded to the state court for determination. The Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants EDS and Pearson [Document # 27] will be GRANTED IN PART to the extent that all claims against these Defendants will be dismissed, with the exception of Claims Three, Five, and Six which will be remanded to the state court for determination. The Motion to Dismiss And/Or for Summary Judgment and Remand filed by the State of North Carolina [Document # 31] will be GRANTED as follows: the portion of the State's Motion requesting summary judgment against Claims One and Two will be GRANTED; the portion of the State's Motion requesting a remand of Claims Three, Five, and Six will also be GRANTED; the portion of the State's Motion requesting dismissal for failure to state a ground on which the statute may be invalid will be DENIED as moot, in light of the grant of the Motion's request for summary judgment. For all the same reasons, Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [Document # 34] will be DENIED in full. Finally, Defendant Guilford County Board of Education's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [Document # 21] and their specific Request for Declaratory Judgment [Document # 13] will both be DENIED.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff was assessed a $50.00 "civil penalty" for a red light violation which was detected by cameras installed at an intersection in the City of High Point, North Carolina, under authority of North Carolina General Statute § 160A-300.1, (Complaint, Ex. A), and Section 10-1-306 of the High Point City Code of Ordinances. (Compl., Ex. B.) This action challenges the validity of those two laws.

In 1997, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed N.C. Gen.Stat. § 160A-300.1, a local act that originally applied only to Charlotte, N.C. and allowed red light cameras for the first time in North Carolina. (State of N.C.'s Mem. In Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss and/or Summ. J. and Remand, at 3.) Between then and the year 2000 the Statute was amended various times to apply to additional municipalities including Defendant City of High Point (the "City" or "High Point"). An attempt to authorize red light cameras statewide was defeated in 1999. (Id.)

Recently, in the 2001 Session of the General Assembly, the original statute was again amended to encompass additional municipalities. (Id.) Further, in the same act, the General Assembly enacted two new statutes: N.C.G.S. § 160A-300.2 and N.C.G.S. § 160A-300.3, which allow red light cameras in Wake County and the City of Concord, respectively. These statutes are similar to the earlier-enacted § 160A-300.1 but they both contain various additional provisions not found in § 160A-300.1. The most relevant of these provisions, in light of the issues currently before the Court, states that "[t]he clear proceeds from the citations issued pursuant to the ordinance authorized by this section shall be paid to the county school fund." N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 160A-300.2(g), 160A-300.3(f).

In general, section 160A-300.1 and its counterparts authorize municipalities to "adopt ordinances for the civil enforcement of G.S. 20-158² by means of a traffic control photographic system ...." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-300.1. Pursuant to this authorization, High Point adopted Ordinance section 10-1-306 to implement such a system. (Defs EDS and Pearson's Br. In Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J., at 3.) The system functions by automatically taking a series of photographs of automobiles entering an intersection after the traffic signal has turned red. (Id.) These photographs are then electronically gathered into "candidate citations," which are reviewed by sworn City police officers to determine which candidate citations become actual citations to be mailed to red light violators. (Id.)

To carry out its traffic control photographic system, the City contracted with Defendant Peek Traffic, Inc. ("Peek") to install traffic control photographic systems at several intersections in High Point. (Compl. ¶ 35.) Additionally, Peek agreed to perform certain functions including collecting the photographs, converting them into candidate citations, and performing other tasks at the direction of the City. (Compl., Ex. C.) Peek, in turn subcontracted some of its duties and responsibilities to Defendant Electronic Data Systems, Corp. (Defs EDS and Pearson's Br. In Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J., at 3.) Allen L. Pearson, II, a Client Delivery Executive with EDS, is responsible for overseeing EDS' office in High Point. (Id.)

EDS is responsible for the process by which "candidate citations" are generated, which includes a review of each digital photograph taken. (The City Defs' Br. In Supp. of their Mot. for Summ. J., at 3.) If the license plate is deemed illegible, then that photograph is not reviewed any further and no citation is issued. (Id.) In addition, EDS reviews the photographs to determine if there is an "obvious legitimate explanation" for the red light violation, such as a funeral procession or a right turn on red. (Id at 3-4.) For all photographs in which the license plate is legible and for which there is no obvious legitimate explanation for the red light violation, EDS determines the registered owner of the vehicle pictured and then prints the "proposed," or, "candidate" citations, to be reviewed by a City of High Point police officer. (Id at 4.)

Once a police officer reviews the proposed citation and determines an official citation should be issued, EDS mails the citation to the registered owner of the vehicle. (Id.) Information on the citation includes the time and date, the vehicle's speed, and the red time, which is the length of time the traffic signal had been red at the time of each photograph. (Id.; Compl. Ex. F.) The governing statute and ordinance state that violations detected by High Point's traffic control photographic system are "noncriminal" and, accordingly, no driver's license points or insurance points are assessed to violators. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 160A-300.1(c)(2); City Ord. § 10-1-306(e).

As the reverse side of the citation explains, if a citation recipient chooses not to pay the $50.00 "civil penalty," he or she may file an appeal. (Compl., Ex. F.) If no payment is received and the citation recipient does not respond within the time allotted, a notice of failure to comply may be issued and the citation recipient can be assessed an additional $50.00 late penalty. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 160A-300.1(c)(3); City Ord. § 10-1-306(c). If an appeal is filed, an appellant must state the reasons for appealing in a small space provided on the back of the citation and submit the form, along with a $50.00 appeal bond, to the SafeLight Piedmont office. (Compl., Ex. F.) Appellants are notified of the time and place to appear at a nonjudicial administrative hearing. (The City Defs' Br. In Supp. of Their Mot. for Summ. J., at 4.) Appeals are heard by one of two High Point University professors who have agreed to serve as appeal hearing officers. (Id)

The money collected by the City from the fines and penalties resulting from citations issued in connection with the traffic control photographic system is placed in the...