The Latest: Iowa Supreme Court hears $75 traffic ticket case

The Latest on an Iowa woman taking a traffic case to the state Supreme Court (all times local):

11:15 a.m.

The Iowa Supreme Court has taken the unusual move of hearing a small claims case stemming from a speeding ticket.

The court Wednesday heard a case brought by 67-year-old Marla Leaf, who argued her constitutional rights were violated after an automated camera ticketed her for speeding on a freeway in her hometown of Cedar Rapids. It was her first speeding ticket, and Leaf says she wasn't speeding.

Her attorney, James Larew, argued Cedar Rapids violates equal protection and due process clauses of the Iowa Constitution in part because it delegates police power to a private, for-profit company.

Attorneys for Cedar Rapids say the city's system abides by state law.

After the hearing, Leaf said she pursued the case simply because, "Why should I pay for a ticket I didn't do?"

___

12:10 a.m.

An Iowa woman who says she was wrongly ticketed by an automated traffic camera when she wasn't speeding is taking her case involving a $75 fine to the state Supreme Court.

For Marla Leaf, it's not a matter about money, but about constitutional rights.

Her attorney, James Larew, will argue Wednesday that the city of Cedar Rapids is violating equal protection and due process clauses of the Iowa Constitution in part because it delegates police power to a private, for-profit company.

Leaf was ticketed in February 2015.

Leaf's case is unusual because the Iowa Supreme Court rarely takes small claims cases. Such cases are closely watched by other communities with automated traffic equipment.