PD-stock-Ohio-Supreme-Court.jpg

The Ohio Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a lawsuit Wednesday challenging whether Toledo -- like Cleveland and other Ohio cities -- can consider motorists' appeals of camera tickets through a police hearing instead of a municipal court.

( PD File)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A lawsuit challenging the way Toledo, Cleveland and other Ohio cities hear appeals for traffic camera tickets will be debated in the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday morning.

The case, filed against the city of Toledo by Kentucky resident Bradley Walker, claims Toledo illegally handles camera ticket appeals through a police department hearing officer instead of a municipal court.

Such a system, Walker claims, violates his state and federal constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the law.

If the Supreme Court rules against Toledo, the decision would likely apply to Cleveland and a number of other cities that also hold administrative hearings for camera tickets. A similar lawsuit against Cleveland has already been appealed to the Supreme Court.

A common pleas court dismissed Walker's complaint, but the Sixth District Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's ruling and sided against Toledo.

Toledo has support in the case from Columbus, Dayton, East Cleveland and Cleveland. Bradley, meanwhile, is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, and two dozen legislators from both parties.

Northeast Ohio Media Group staff writer Jeremy Pelzer will cover oral arguments in the lawsuit Wednesday morning on cleveland.com.