An electronics engineer who was fined $500 by the state of Oregon because he identified himself as an engineer in a letter complaining about a traffic light is now suing the Beaver State for violating his rights to free speech.

Mats Jarlstrom, a resident of Beaverton, Oregon, emailed the Oregon State Board of Examiners after he discovered a flaw in a traffic light in September 2014, according to Motherboard.

Jarlstrom wanted to call the board's attention to the fact that the local yellow traffic lights do not last long enough and that drivers were being penalized for crossing yellow lights.

In response, Jarlstrom received a letter from the board this past January informing him that he was fined $500 because he was guilty of 'practicing engineering without being registered.'

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In September 2014, Mats Jarlstrom (above), a resident of the town of Beaverton, Oregon, emailed the Oregon State Board of Examiners after he discovered a flaw in a traffic light

Jarlstrom wanted to call the board's attention to the fact that the local yellow traffic lights do not last long enough and that drivers were being penalized for crossing yellow lights

The letter's explanation read: 'ORS 672.020(1) prohibits the practice of engineering in Oregon without registration … at a minimum, your use of the title "electronics engineer" and the statement "I'm an engineer" … create violations.'

Jarlstrom first began to take an interest in the traffic lights after his wife was caught running a red light by a traffic camera near their home in 2013.

He then started to investigate the matter on his own.

Jarlstrom discovered during the course of his work that the cameras were snapping photographs of drivers who were running yellow lights.

Using mathematical data and formulas, Jarlstrom found that the old methods for determining the timing of yellow lights did not take into account other factors like drivers who have to slow down before turning lanes.

Using mathematical data and formulas, Jarlstrom found that the old methods for determining the timing of yellow lights did not take into account other factors like drivers who have to slow down before turning lanes. Jarlstrom's work is seen in the above chart

In response, Jarlstrom received a letter from the board this past January informing him that he was fined $500 because he was guilty of 'practicing engineering without being registered'

'When you make a turn you slow down but that's not accounted for in their solution, so people are getting caught in red light cameras for making safe turns,' he said.

'I'm not practicing engineering, I'm just using basic mathematics and physics, Newtonian laws of motion, to make calculations and talk about what I found,' Järlström said.

When Jarlstrom began to publicize his findings in news media interviews and other forums, the Oregon engineering board levied the fine after conducting a two-year investigation.

The fine was issued despite the fact that Jarlstrom conducted the studies for free on his own time. He also has a degree in electrical engineering and decades of experience in the technical field, according to the Institute for Justice.

IJ is a libertarian advocacy group that is helping Jarlstrom in his federal lawsuit against Oregon.

'Criticizing the government's engineering isn't a crime; it's a constitutional right,' said Sam Gedge, a lawyer who is representing Jarlstrom in the lawsuit.

'Under the First Amendment, you don't need to be a licensed lawyer to write an article critical of a Supreme Court decision, you don't need to be a licensed landscape architect to create a gardening blog, and you don't need to be a licensed engineer to talk about traffic lights.

'Whether or not you use math, criticizing the government is a core constitutional right that cannot be hampered by onerous licensing requirements.'

Jarlstrom, a native Swede who moved to the United States 20 years ago, said he was surprised to receive the letter.

'When I got the first letter, it was this feeling of being violated and shocked that someone can be treated like this in the USA for sharing their ideas,' he said.

'I've done this freely, self-funded, as a civil service. I want to show these ideas to the public and I'm getting surpassed. It's been a civil rights violation since day one.'