Knutson v. Village of Lakemoor

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Due Process
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 18-3729
Decision Date: 
August 1, 2019
Federal District: 
N.D. Ill., E. Div.
Holding: 
Affirmed

Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing for failure to state valid cause of action plaintiffs’ class action alleging that defendant-City violated their due process rights by issuing notices of red-light camera violations that failed to cite specific reference to section of municipal code that plaintiff had allegedly violated and by not including challenge to notice’s validity as available defense to instant code violation. Defendant provided plaintiff with adequate due process, where permitted defenses in code allowed plaintiffs to refute or alleviate their culpability, while plaintiffs’ desired notice defense had no bearing on plaintiffs’ culpability. Ct. rejected plaintiffs’ claim that notices were void ab initio due to failure to cite specific code violation, since any requirement for specific reference to code violation was merely directory, as opposed to mandatory. Moreover, plaintiffs had ample information to generate defense, where notices had multiple pictures of plaintiffs’ registered vehicle, along with time, date and location of violation.