MIAMI, Aug. 11, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A class action lawsuit brought against three red-light camera vendors and more than 70 counties and municipalities regarding the legality of red-light camera programs in Florida is moving forward after a federal judge rejected the vendors' and municipalities' motions to dismiss the case. The plaintiffs in this litigation are represented by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

The Aug. 10 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Federico Moreno of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami follows a May 14, 2015, hearing in Parker et al. v. American Traffic Solutions, Inc. et al. during which plaintiffs' attorneys argued that the counties' and municipalities' delegation of authority to review and administer alleged red-light camera infractions to private vendors was illegal and unconstitutional. The complaint involves hundreds of thousands of red-light citations issued to Florida drivers that plaintiffs charge were in violation of a Florida statute that accords only Traffic Infraction Enforcement Officers authority to issue Notices of Violation and Uniform Traffic Citations.

 "We are pleased that Judge Moreno agrees that this case should be brought to court. The law mandates that qualified officers must determine who has violated our traffic laws and issue traffic citations, keeping the authority to enforce the law in the hands of law enforcement.   The action on the part of these red-light camera vendors and the municipalities and counties that retain them is a clear violation of the statute," said plaintiffs' lead attorney Theodore Leopold, of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

The lawsuit was filed in October 2014 by Florida residents Christopher L. Parker and Marwa Moussa on behalf of all individuals who received red-light traffic citations in Florida as a result of an image or video taken from a red-light camera administered by American Traffic Solutions (ATS), Xerox State & Local Solutions, Inc. or GATSO USA Inc. between July 1, 2010 and the present. In October 2014, Florida's 4th District Court of Appeals affirmed that one of these vendors—ATS—had been improperly delegated power and took actions that violated state law.

Although Judge Moreno dismissed some of plaintiffs' claims (including their procedural due process claims) in his 12-page opinion, the crux of the litigation (including plaintiffs' Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, unjust enrichment, and unlawful delegation claims) will continue and plaintiffs may seek to amend their complaint to re-plead the dismissed claims.

In addition to Leopold, the plaintiffs are represented by Andrew Friedman and Sally Handmaker, of Cohen Milstein, and co-counsel Andrew T. Trailor, P.A.

For more information about Parker et al. v. American Traffic Solutions, Inc. et al., visit http://www.cohenmilstein.com/news.php?NewsID=791.

About Cohen Milstein

Founded in 1969, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC is a national leader in plaintiffs' class action lawsuits and litigation. As one of the premier firms in the country handling major complex cases, Cohen Milstein, with 80 attorneys, has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Denver, Colo. For more information, visit http://www.cohenmilstein.com or call 202-408-4600.