Tom Warne Report, 9 June 2013
The Illinois Department of Transportation’s effort to keep information about its red light camera program within the agency by locking an Excel spreadsheet has been ruled a violation of the state’s freedom of information laws. The state’s second-highest court last week ordered the agency to pay an anti-camera activist $12,561 in compensation.
Barnet Fagel, of the National Motorists Association, assists motorists challenge tickets they feel were not fairly received. In January 2011, Fagel requested access to IDOT’s data on automated ticketing systems maintained by the agency. IDOT keeps a spreadsheet with the permit status for every red light camera operating at state-run intersections. Fagel said the file he received electronically from IDOT was locked to prevent sorting, filtering and also concealed metadata.
IDOT said the file was locked “to protect the integrity of the material and not to withhold information in any way.”
Fagel initially took the case to the state attorney general, who sided with IDOT, saying the information did not have to be provided in a format that could be manipulated. In April 2012, Cook County Circuit Judge Peter Flynn said IDOT was wrong, and this week the Illinois Court of Appeals upheld that analysis.