TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A political charade. That’s what the City of Tucson calls former State Senator Justine Wadsack’s lawsuit against the city. She’s suing for eight million dollars.
The city says she can’t back up her claim that politics, not speeding, drove police to write her a traffic ticket.
Former State Senator Justine Wadsack is a former Senator because she lost her Republican primary. She says knocking her out of office was the real goal when Tucson Police wrote her a ticket for twice the speed limit. So she’s suing the city. Now the city’s snapped back with a motion to dismiss. It’s 18 pages of legal argument that basically calls the claim—-worthless.
Tucson Police body camera video from March 2024 recorded an encounter between an officer and the-State Senator Justine Wadsack.
Police officer: “Hello. “Do you have driver's license, registration and insurance?”
Wadsack: “Yes I do. My name is Senator Justine Wadsack and I’m racing to get home because I have four miles left on my charger before I’m about to … go down.”
Officer: “OK, well, Speedway is a 35 mile per hour zone.”
Wadsack: “I understand”
Officer: “And you went over 70.”
Wadsack: “I was not doing 70.”
Officer: ‘Yes you were, I was behind you. I had my radar on.”
Wadsack: “OK.”
Even though the officer claims she was driving twice the speed limit. Justine Wadsack did not get a ticket that night.
State lawmakers are immune from prosecution for minor offenses when the legislature is in session. Wadsack argued that means permanent immunity. The city says that means police just had to wait until the session ended so they wrote her up in July.
After a few court sessions the city dismissed the charge when Wadsack went to traffic school.
But later she filed a Federal civil rights suit. It asks for eight million dollars and claims officers told reporters about her ticket to torpedo her campaign for reelection.
It also claims police can’t back up their claims she was doing 71 in a 35 zone.
In a motion to dismiss the case, lawyers for the city say, “This case is a political charade.”
Wadsack says an investigation she launched against TPD was one reason police wanted to knock her out of office. But the city says the traffic stop was before the investigation.
City lawyers go on to say Wadsack’s lawyers will never find anything to back up a “...right
to be free from police officers issuing traffic citations for speeding and failure to provide
proof of car insurance, prohibiting police officers from communicating with the media
about traffic tickets involving legislators, or prohibiting police officers from filing
criminal complaints against political critics who are speeding.”
