Joint Statement from the City of Providence and Plaintiffs – City’s School Speed Zone Camera system
Joint Statement from the City of Providence and Plaintiffs
Regarding Ricci v. City of Providence
The City of Providence and the Plaintiffs are pleased to announce a proposed class-wide settlement of the Ricci v. City of Providence litigation. The settlement will require court preliminary approval, notice to the class members (all those who received summonses, dated April 15, 2018 or before, based on information provided by the City’s School Speed Zone Camera system), and final approval at a fairness hearing after class members are afforded an opportunity to exclude themselves from, or object to, the proposed settlement.
The Parties intend to file with the Court their settlement agreement and a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement on or before May 18, 2018, at which time all of the proposed terms of the settlement will be made available to the public for review. As notice of the terms of the settlement to the class members requires actual court approval according to the law, the parties are not able to disclose the actual terms of the settlement at this time beyond stating that all class members will be afforded an opportunity for a hearing to challenge their summonses and, if found responsible, will be provided a partial refund (if they already paid a fine) or a reduced fine. Those class members who do not want to attend a hearing will be provided the same relief. The full terms of the settlement will be described in detail in the settlement agreement and the class notice that must be approved by the Court before the settlement is implemented.
The Parties wish to recognize the assistance of the Honorable Mark Pfeiffer, who acted as mediator and assisted the Parties’ resolve their dispute in an expedient and efficient way for the benefit of all concerned. The Plaintiffs appreciate that the City revised the language in the form of summons that is currently being used for school-zone speeding citations. The City is extremely pleased to note that, through the implementation of the of the School Speed Zone Camera system, speeding violations in close proximity to Providence Public Schools have decreased substantially and surrounding neighborhoods are safer as a result.