Opinion ID: 1979104
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Compensation Arrangement with ACS

Text: Appellants' second argument is that the large sums of money involved in the administration of the ATE System created a biased adjudication process. They allege that administration of the ATE System by ACS, a private company, violates due process because ACS's financial profit from the fines imposed by the system creates a tainted tribunal. [11] They further argue that the District's contractual financial obligation to ACS imperil[s] the fundamental fairness of the adjudicatory process by creating a financial incentive for the District to enter determinations of liability against them in order to generate enough revenue to fulfill the monthly contract amount guaranteed to ACS. At minimum, appellants state that there are disputed issues of material fact that warrant reversal of the grant of summary judgment, especially, they argue, in light of the fact that the trial court articulated no reasons for its ruling on this issue. [12] Our review of the record, viewing it in the light most favorable to the appellants, reveals that the following facts are undisputed: if a vehicle commits an infraction by speeding or going through a red light, ATE System cameras take a picture of the car's license plate. The picture is reviewed for certain defects, and ACS issues and mails a ticket to the registered owner of the vehicle. The ticket states that under District law the registered owner is liable, and then provides instructions on how to admit or deny the infraction. Appellants made clear that they are not challenging the accuracy of the ATE System cameras; thus for the purposes of this case we assume that all citations issued accurately captured a violation of traffic laws. The parties dispute whether ACS performs any adjudicatory function, and appellants argue that this dispute should warrant reversal. However, the parties do not dispute the procedures that are followed by ACS, and whether those actions constitute an imposition of liability is a question of law, not a dispute of fact. A mixed question of law and fact exists where the historical facts are admitted or established, the rule of law is undisputed, and the issue is . . . [how] the rule of law [is] applied to the established facts. . . . Davis v. United States, 564 A.2d 31, 35 (D.C.1989) (en banc) (citing Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, 289 n. 19, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982)). Cf. Southern Ry. Co. v. Taylor, 57 App.D.C. 21, 26, 16 F.2d 517, 522 (1926) (whether certain facts do or do not constitute a ground of liability is in its nature a question of law) (quoting Beutler v. Grand Trunk Junction Ry. Co., 224 U.S. 85, 89, 32 S.Ct. 402, 56 L.Ed. 679 (1912)). ACS issues the notice of infraction, which indeed states that the owner of the vehicle is liable; however, in doing so ACS has not performed any adjudicatory function. It is by operation of the statutory scheme that liability is imposed, not by the act of ACS issuing the citation. ACS merely makes factual determinations about violations of speed or red-yellow light laws, and those determinations are reviewed by an MPD officer who decides whether a ticket should be issued. Once ACS makes that factual determination, the accuracy of which is not being challenged, the predicate has been established, and by operation of the statute, vicarious liability is imposed unless the factual predicate is rebutted. As discussed in section I, supra, this mechanism for imposing liability does not violate due process. Having determined that, as a matter of law, ACS does not make determinations of liability, any financial compensation received by ACS thus has no effect on the adjudicatory process. Moreover, appellants do not dispute that all citations contain information on the process for challenging liability, either through live hearings or submission of affidavits. That most people choose to admit liability and pay the fine without availing themselves of this process does not change the fact that ultimate liability in a contested case is imposed only after a hearing examiner or judge has reviewed evidence of the violation as well as any challenges to its validity or other statutorily-prescribed defenses. Appellants' argument that the District's budgetary obligation to ACS taints the impartiality of its adjudicatory tribunals likewise fails. The cases relied on by appellants indicate that impartiality is affected where there is a direct link between the judge's behavior and the money received. See Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510, 523, 47 S.Ct. 437, 71 L.Ed. 749 (1927) (holding that due process is violated where judge has direct, personal, substantial pecuniary interest in convicting). In Ward v. Monroeville, 409 U.S. 57, 93 S.Ct. 80, 34 L.Ed.2d 267 (1972), even though the mayor did not receive direct financial compensation from convictions, the Supreme Court found that mayor's executive responsibilities for village finances may have made him partisan to maintain the high level of [revenue] contribution from the mayor's court, and thus it was a violation of due process for him to personally make judgments of liability for traffic violations. Id. at 60, 93 S.Ct. 80. Here, however, the connection is too attenuated and overbroad. Ward instructs us that the test is whether the . . . situation is one `which would offer a possible temptation to the average man as a judge to forget the burden of proof required to convict the defendant, or which might lead him not to hold the balance nice, clear, and true between the state and the accused. . . .' Id. (quoting Tumey, 273 U.S. at 532, 47 S.Ct. 437). The hearing examiners and judges who make the ultimate liability determinations in ATE System cases have no direct connection to the Mayor of the District or its budget. Appellants' argument is tantamount to arguing that all judges employed by the District are biased in civil suits in which the District is a party, simply over concern that the District may fall into a budget deficit. Appellants have not suggested, nor is there any evidence, that the salaries of the individual hearing examiners or judges are contingent upon findings of liability, or that their salaries are directly affected in any way by the state of the District's budget. Unlike the city at issue in Ward, the judicial and executive functions in traffic adjudication in the District are entirely separate, and on the facts before us there is no basis for questioning the impartiality of the tribunal.