Oyster has a client

YRHT:

As I've been saying for over a year, there is hidden political power in this traffic camera issue. Hardly anyone likes the damn things, and a great many people hate them.

Again, I implore all insurgent and outsider political candidates to heavily exploit this issue. Own it! This is one of those kinds of issues that channels frustration into a surprising groundswell of support on election day. Non-establishment candidates should make use of it. I'm serious! Make hay out of the incredible efficiency of the traffic cameras compared to the lackluster inefficiency of the crime cameras: cops not cameras! working traffic lights not cameras!

Cedric Richmond isn't exactly "non-establishment" but he is a probable 2010 mayoral congressional* candidate.

BATON ROUGE -- City- and parish-operated cameras that monitor speeding and traffic-signal violations would be unplugged starting Jan. 1 under a bill filed by a New Orleans legislator.

House Bill 480 by Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, and co-sponsored by Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers, would prohibit cities and parishes from setting up cameras to monitor traffic violations. Some parishes that have already set them up have generated millions of dollars in revenues but have come under fire from critics who claim the systems are unconstitutional and violate the privacy of vehicle occupants.

Maybe this issue is too good to keep out of the mainstream.

Question: If traffic cameras are "unconstitutional and violate the privacy of vehicle occupants," can't we say the same thing for crime cameras? Or is the constitutionality specifically tied to whether or not the device in question actually works?

Update: Oh BTW, while we sit here worrying about the "constitutionality" of photographing traffic signals, the standard for determining such things is dropping through the floor.

*As a couple of commenters have pointed out, Richmond is likely running for Congress in 2010. My bad. Still, the point remains. A candidate for high-profile office in the New Orleans area in 2010 seems to be attempting to score points off of the traffic cameras.