Drop the chalk: Michigan motorist wins appeal over tickets

By ED WHITE
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — A woman fed up with how a Michigan city tracked parking violations has won a major decision from a federal appeals court. Alison Taylor says Saginaw violated the U.S. Constitution by chalking her car tires and gathering information without a search warrant. The appeals court agreed, saying an exception claimed by Saginaw doesn’t fit. Saginaw says tire chalking is a signal to motorists that vehicles are being watched in a two-hour parking zone. The city calls it a “minimal intrusion.” But attorney Philip Ellison says Saginaw used chalk marks to illegally extract information from Taylor’s car. Taylor received more than a dozen parking tickets. The lawsuit now will return to a federal court in Michigan.