A federal appeals court has ruled a police practice of chalking tires to determine whether a vehicle overstays a given time limit on a parking space is unconstitutional, The New York Times is reporting.
The enforcement practice is in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.
The case had been brought by Alison Taylor of Saginaw, Michigan, who had received 14 parking tickets in three years from the same officer, according to the Times.
The newspaper noted many cities have chalked tires for years, although it is less common today due to high-tech parking enforcement.
The practice entails a parking enforcement officer marking the tires of parked cars in time-limited zones. When the officer later returns, the chalk mark lets them determine if it has exceeded its stay.
"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, according to NPR.
The Times reported it was unclear what will happen now as a result of the ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court’s decision is binding in only the four states covered by the court – Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
Meanwhile, the Downtown Development Authority in Bay City, Michigan announced that it will no longer order the chalking of car tires.
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