Federal Court Rules Chalking Parked Cars’ Tires Unconstitutional

It’s a pretty common practice for meter maids to use chalking to help determine if your parked car has been moved. And if you’ve ever received a parking ticket, you may have noticed the white lines across your tires. However, after receiving 15 parking tickets from the same officer over the course of 3 years, Alison Taylor of Michigan sued in 2017 arguing that “chalking” was unconstitutional.

And after being heard by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit it has been decided that tire-chalking is a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. If you’re a little rusty on what the Fourth Amendment constitutes, here’s a refresher:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Essentially, what was said in the statement is that chalking constitutes an illegal search without probable cause, and as such is unconstitutional.

As you can imagine, this has sparked quite the debate online. People have taken to social media platforms to discuss how the decision was right or wrong. What’s your opinion?

Fascinating CA6 opinion today holding that chalking a tire for parking enforcement — to see if the car had been there a while in violation of parking rules — violates the 4th Amendment. Not sure where I come out on it, but fun issue. Here's a thread. https://t.co/2MtCtAb9e6 #N pic.twitter.com/GOGjL0RUGk

— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) April 22, 2019