Federal judge dismisses lawsuit against BusPatrol over camera tickets

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the company that operates school bus cameras in dozens of school districts across Long Island, which has generated tens of millions of dollars in fines from drivers.

United States District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos on Thursday rejected all claims made against BusPatrol America by plaintiff Sarah Morgulis, who got a ticket after allegedly passing a stopped school bus in West Hempstead in April 2023.

The lawsuit said BusPatrol does not provide sufficient evidence when issuing tickets to drivers who allegedly pass stopped school buses and that the company has been essentially acting as a governmental agency in recording and issuing these violations, which start at $250.

Ramos rejected each of the 13 claims, calling one "woefully insufficient."

"The court’s decision is a well-reasoned analysis of why each and every claim alleged by the plaintiff lacked merit," BusPatrol spokesman Gary Lewi said in a statement.

The lawsuit, which had been filed in state court and moved to federal court in January, sought unspecified damages and for BusPatrol's practices to be declared unlawful, according to the complaint.

"We all need to be concerned about government delegating power to private, for-profit entities, armed with new technology, including artificial intelligence, that have the potential to interfere with our fundamental rights," said Martin Bienstock, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who is representing Morgulis.

Bienstock said he intends to appeal the dismissal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

"We expect the appeals court will understand the issues differently than how it was received by the trial court," Bienstock said.

Morgulis’ lawsuit is not the first challenge to BusPatrol’s school bus camera programs on Long Island. One case in state Supreme Court is still pending.

Suffolk County resident Alfred Croce III tried to get his school bus citation tossed by the Suffolk County Traffic and Parking Violation in September 2022. When that failed, he escalated his case to the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court.

Croce argued that the video captured by BusPatrol, and used as evidence for his citation, failed to prove the vehicle was actually a school bus and that it was stopped to drop off or pick up passengers, both of which are required under state law.

The three-judge appellate panel sided with Croce, saying that Suffolk County did not prove the bus was properly marked and equipped with flashing lights.

That ruling raised serious questions about Suffolk County’s school bus camera program, which was permitted by a 2019 state law. After the appeals court overturned Croce’s ticket for lack of evidence, Suffolk late last year paused prosecution on more than 9,000 citations for passing a stopped school bus.

Passing a stopped school bus brings a $250 fine for a first violation, increasing with subsequent violations.

The New York State Legislature in April amended the school bus camera law by adding a presumption that a stopped school bus is picking up or dropping off students, along with a provision saying that the vehicle providing images used in these cases is legally considered a school bus.

Still, Suffolk County ended up dismissing more than 8,000 school bus citations, passing up on as much as $2 million in potential revenue from the tickets.

In November, West Hempstead resident Sergey Kadinsky filed a class-action lawsuit against Hempstead Town in state Supreme Court in Nassau with similar claims to the Croce case. Kadinsky’s lawsuit is asking that everyone who paid a fine under the school bus camera program in Hempstead be refunded and that the program be changed.

Hempstead has moved to have the case dismissed, but no ruling has yet been made, said Bienstock, who is also one of the attorneys representing Kadinsky.

Since launching its school bus camera program in 2021, Suffolk County has reported collecting more than $46 million in ticket revenue. Under the county’s contract with BusPatrol, the county keeps 55% of the revenue, and the remaining 45% goes to the Virginia-based company.

Hempstead Town issued 140,456 school bus-passing citations last year, the first full year its bus camera program was in effect, and collected $13 million in revenue. Like Suffolk County, Hempstead has a 55-45 revenue split with BusPatrol.

Unlike Suffolk, Nassau does not have a countywide school bus camera program. The towns and villages decide for themselves whether to establish their own programs. So far, Glen Cove, Long Beach, Oyster Bay and North Hempstead have joined Hempstead Town in partnering with BusPatrol to set up school bus camera programs.

As for the Morgulis lawsuit, Bienstock said he expects to file the appeal within three months.

"The process is likely to set us back by a year," he said.