December 20, 2007
Federal lawsuit filed over Chicago's cell phone ban
A civil rights lawyer thinks he has found a fatal defect in Chicago's ban on talking on a cell phone while driving. The Chicago Tribune reports.
"The city has failed to post the prohibition on signs in violation of a state statute, contends a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, which seeks the refund of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
... The suit was filed in federal court on behalf of a Chicago man who was ticketed in May and proposes to be a class-action on behalf of thousands of motorists ticketed for talking on the cell phone while driving.
Attorney Blake Horwitz is demanding that the city scrap any tickets outstanding and refund almost $2 million in fines collected since the ban went into effect in 2005. Motorists who have been pulled over in Chicago should have been properly forewarned of the ban on cell phones, he said.
Experts have slammed the lawsuit. The city's ordinance doesn't conflict with any state law and therefore does not have to be posted publicly, they said. "
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