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A Saginaw judge has ruled that chalking car tires without a search warrant violates the U.S. Constitution.
According to FOX 2, Alison Taylor, a woman with 14 parking tickets, sued the city of Saginaw for violating the Fourth Amendment after a parking enforcer chalked her car's tires and returned two hours later to issue a ticket.
The case began in 2017 and as of Wednesday (August 25), the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to overturn a ruling in favor of Saginaw.
"For nearly as long as automobiles have parked along city streets, municipalities have found ways to enforce parking regulations without implicating the Fourth Amendment," Judge Richard Griffin said in court on Wednesday. He also added, "Thus, tire chalking is not necessary to meet the ordinary needs of law enforcement, let alone the extraordinary."
City parking enforcer Tabitha Hoskins, who issued the tickets to Taylor, would chalk tires in areas without meters and where parking time limits were posted. The city says the chalking reminded motorists that vehicles are being watched for their time while parking.
In a court filing, Saginaw said, "The city has significant interests that are furthered by enforcing its parking ordinances through the use of chalk, and these interests greatly outweigh the minimal intrusion that a chalk mark creates."