May City Enact Civil Penalties for Violations That Are Criminal Offenses Under State Law?
Kelly Mendenhall et al. v. The City of Akron et al., Case no. 2006-2265 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ISSUE: Do the “home rule” powers conferred by the Ohio Constitution give a municipality authority to enact civil penalties for the offense of violating a traffic signal light or the offense of speeding, both of which are criminal offenses under the Ohio Revised Code? BACKGROUND: Kelly Mendenhall and other Akron-area motorists who have been cited for “civil violations” of a new local speeding ordinance enforced through the use of unmanned traffic cameras have challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance under which those citations were issued. While Mendenhall and the other petitioners originally sued in state court, Akron and its Rhode Island-based traffic camera contractor, Nestor Traffic Systems, Inc., removed their cases to federal district court. After reviewing the pleadings submitted by the parties and a decision of Trumbull County Court of Common Ple
