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Marking Tires With Chalk To Enforce Parking Rules Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules

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mountaineer:
Marking Tires With Chalk To Enforce Parking Rules Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules
By ED WHITE Associated Press
April 23, 2019 at 10:56 am

DETROIT (AP) — Marking tires to enforce parking rules is like entering property without a search warrant, a federal court said Monday as it declared the practice unconstitutional in Michigan and three other states.

Alison Taylor had received more than a dozen $15 tickets for exceeding the two-hour parking limit in Saginaw. The city marks tires with chalk to keep track of how long a vehicle is parked. Her lawyer argued that a parking patrol officer violated the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed. The purpose of marking tires was to “raise revenue,” not to protect the public against a safety risk, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.

“The city does not demonstrate, in law or logic, that the need to deter drivers from exceeding the time permitted for parking — before they have even done so — is sufficient to justify a warrantless search under the community caretaker rationale,” the court said.

The decision sets a new standard for Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, the states covered by the 6th Circuit. ... More via WBZ

goatprairie:
A chalk mark is cruder than electronic record-keeping, but the principle is the same. I'm not exactly  a champion of parking tickets, but municipalities have a right to have some sort of system to keep track of car parking.
If chalking tires is unconstitutional, then so is the whole system of keeping track of vehicles by time-dated cameras or other methods.

Cyber Liberty:
How did parking tix become a Federal case?

Elderberry:

--- Quote ---The case will return to federal court in Bay City. Ellison wants Ludington to certify the lawsuit as a class-action, with refunds for people who got tickets. He said Saginaw has been collecting up to $200,000 a year with parking tickets from tire marking.
--- End quote ---

goatprairie:

--- Quote from: Elderberry on April 23, 2019, 04:50:05 pm ---

--- End quote ---
If the case is the city is extracting too much money from it's citizens, that's a different matter from trying to keep people from hogging parking spots by limiting their time.
I just don't see a case prohibiting municipalities from establishing fines for parking violations. Having your tires chalked is hardly an infringement on your rights.

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