I didn’t know judges issued rulings on Sundays, but I guess sometimes they do.
Red-light camera opponents will not be allowed to help defend a November referendum in which voters rejected the devices, a federal judge ruled on Sunday, saying there was no evidence the city of Houston is failing to represent the public’s interest in the case.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes said the Kubosh family, which bankrolled the red-light camera petition, could not “intervene” in the litigation over how the city should terminate its contract with American Traffic Solutions, the Arizona-based company that ran the camera program.
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Hughes wrote in his ruling that Kubosh could not join the suit, just as “a councilman who managed an ordinance through the council would not be allowed to join a suit to defend it when it is challenged in court.”
The fact that Parker and most council members advocated on behalf of the cameras does not prove that the city has a “mixed motivation,” he said.
“The practice of politics by administration officials does not equal dereliction of duty,” he said.
Hughes has yet to rule on other facets of the case, including whether the referendum was legal and on whether the city was correct in terminating the contract because of the referendum.
We may get a ruling on those other items by the end of the year. Mary Benton has more.