Virginia has been a flashpoint for abortion since Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam advocated infanticide during a radio interview about a radical bill in the legislature.
And the state is sharply divided over majority Democratic lawmakers proposing a slew of radical gun-control measures.
Now, the legislature is considering the deployment of automated cameras and radar to “bring speeding charges for which the accused is presumed guilty.”
The Rutherford Institute is denouncing House Bill 1442, which would authorize “photo speed monitoring devices.”
“At a time when the Commonwealth of Virginia is struggling with critical issues on almost every front, it is a poor reflection on the General Assembly that one of its top legislative priorities – authorizing the installation and deployment of automated speed cameras throughout the state – involves a backdoor means of generating revenue for localities and police agencies at the expense of the citizenry’s rights to privacy and due process,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, the institute’s president.
“To the detriment of all, House Bill 1442 will further extend the government’s pervasive and oppressive surveillance of citizens.”
The proposal is to install cameras and associated computers and software that measure the speed of vehicles passing by and take a photograph.
“If the device determines that the vehicle was exceeding the speed limit for the zone by more than 10 miles per hour, the owner of the vehicle can be cited and fined. Based solely on data recorded by the device, a summons for committing a speeding offense can be issued to the owner of the vehicle. The owner would be determined using the image of the vehicle’s license plate as captured by the photo speed monitoring device,” the institute said.
Significantly, the proposed law would impose a mandatory presumption of guilt.
The plan also “wholly eliminates any requirement that the speed detection equipment used was accurate and reliable.”
The letter to the legislature’s Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee notes that not only is the plan a back-door method to find people guilty and fine them through an automated process, it also will provide “the government with yet another tool for tracking the movements and activities of citizens.”
It’s another weapon, Rutherford said, in the “government’s already burgeoning arsenal of surveillance devices, including the already omnipresent license plate readers.”
Rutherford argued the presumption of guilt “offends generally accepted standards of due process, which require the government to prove each element of an offense, including the burden of proving that the accused was the one who committed the offense, not simply that the accused property was involved.”
Further, assuming to know the identity of the driver is unreasonable, the letter said.
The fact that drivers would not be notified until days later, voids any opportunity they might have to collect evidence and important exculpatory evidence might be lost, the letter said.
Also, there’s a problem with the presumption that the equipment is accurate.
The bill also could violate the state constitution, the letter explained, because it directs revenue from fines to recipients not allowed by the state.
And, the letter notes, lawmakers have tried to drive the plan through the legislature in a “secretive manner.”
“While it is not surprising that the General Assembly would keep quiet about legislation that has proved hugely unpopular around the nation but which would benefit private corporations and government coffers, this kind of stealth legislation is offensive to our democratic institutions,” the letter said.
The surveillance factor also is alarming, it said.
“We have come to the point that whenever you’re walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, it is likely that some government agency is tracking and monitoring your behavior,” the letter said.
The traffic cameras would just add to that, said Rutherford.
