“Chalking” Of Tires May Be Violating Fourth Amendment of the U.S Constitution

Do parking enforcement enforcers use chalk to mark your tires? Did you know that they may violating the Constitution when they do that? No? Now you know.

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that "chalking" is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The case was brought by Alison Taylor, a Michigan woman whom the court describes as a "frequent recipient of parking tickets." The city of Saginaw, Mich., like countless other cities around the country, uses chalk to mark the tires of cars to enforce time limits on parking.

Alison already received 15 tickets in just a few years. As she received the 15th, she decided to go after the city, specifically to the one who issued her 15 tickets, the parking enforcement officer and “prolific” chalker, Tabitha Hoskins.

"Trespassing upon a privately-owned vehicle parked on a public street to place a chalk mark to begin gathering information to ultimately impose a government sanction is unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment," Taylor's lawyer, Philip Ellison, wrote in a court filing.

How did the proceedings go? Find out on NPR.

(Image Credit: Raban Haajik/ Unsplash)


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The story is interesting, but what fascinates me is that photo of a parking facility in the Netherlands where every space will only accommodate a VW-or-smaller cars and even then you wouldn't be able to open the doors without bumping the adjacent vehicle.
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Kind of silly when parking enforcement gets a digital license plate scanner that provides a time stamp and maybe a reminder for the enforcement officer to return later to enforce parking rules.
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