STOW, Ohio — If you want to fight a photo enforcement citation from the Village of Peninsula, you no longer have to pay a $100 fee in Stow Municipal Court.
Stow Municipal Court Judge Kim Hoover issued an order to suspend the fee this week.
The order came after the Institute for Justice, a national nonprofit law firm, sent a letter to the Village of Peninsula stating the fee was unconstitutional last month.
Bobbi Taylor, IJ Litigation Fellow, said the fee "put due process behind a paywall."
We reached out to Stow Municipal Court. The court has yet to respond.
Parma resident Helen Kabat supports suspending the fee.
Kabat is one of approximately three dozen drivers who appealed their citation since the program started in late April.
"I could afford it. How many people couldn't afford it and didn't fight it?" she asked.
In her case, the citation she was sent was a mistake. The car appears to be a Toyota SUV. She owns a Toyota Camry - with a different color and a different license plate.
Kabat's citation was dismissed, and she was refunded the $100 fine.
However, Kabat is still angry with the Village of Peninsula and Stow Municipal Court.
She said she spent hours figuring out how to fight the ticket and then driving to and from Stow for a court hearing.
"I’m 82. My husband is 88. Look at the obituaries," she said. "Our time is very precious."
