Chalking Tires To Enforce Parking Rules is Unconstitutional, Court Finds

Reader schwit1 writes: Marking your tires with chalk is trespassing, not law enforcement, the federal appeals panel said in a Michigan case. U.S. Circuit Judge Bernice Bouie Donald wrote that when drivers pull into parking spaces, 'the city commences its search on vehicles that are parked legally, without probable cause or even so much as 'individualized suspicion of wrongdoing' -- the touchstone of the reasonableness standard.' Moreover, overstaying your welcome at a parking space doesn't cause 'injury or ongoing harm to the community,' she wrote, meaning the city is wrong to argue that parking enforcement is part of its 'community caretaking' responsibility, potentially justifying a search without a warrant. In fact, she wrote, 'there has been a trespass in this case because the City made intentional physical contact with Taylor's vehicle.' Further reading: A court ruling 'chalking' illegal could make way for more privacy-invasive tech.

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