Governing by camera.

     Starting today, tickets will be issued to the owners of cars caught speeding by hidden cameras in Montgomery.

     It's an extension of the red light cameras now in use at numerous intersections in Montgomery, Selma and other Alabama cities.

Red Light Camera

     In both cases the tickets go to the owner of the vehicle, not the driver. Does that not seem like a violation of due process? (Proof, if any was needed, that Tim did not attend law school?)

     The speed-cameras will be "hidden" inside out-of-service police cars, so city officials argue that you deserve the ticket if you're so stupid as to speed past a marked police car.

Speed Cameras

    The red-light cameras have a mixed history, with some cities tearing them out after citizen complaints, and after studies suggested the companies that collect the revenue had an unfair incentive to interpret the photos against drivers and for the city (and themselves).

     If Montgomery residents are unhappy about the use of the cameras, there is a rather simple way to eliminate them. Start mobilizing like-minded citizens, send petitions to members of the council and the mayor, and make sure they know that they will be unelected if they don't pull the plug. They're betting people will forget by the time the next election comes around, and there is no power of recall in Alabama that would allow them to be removed before the election. 

     But a patient electorate, and a campaign of ads against those who voted for the spy cams, could work. 

Warning Signs

     Or the voters could do the opposite, rise up in support of the cameras and demand even more be installed, to catch jaywalkers and litterers and people cursing or violating the new ban on smoking in public buildings and....