- The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled tire chalking for parking enforcement was an illegal search.
- Police in Ann Arbor, Michigan used chalk and were facing a class action lawsuit over the practice.
- The city council recently decided to settle for $1 per case to avoid paying for continued litigation.
How much are your rights worth? In the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan they could be worth as little as one dollar. That’s a depressing amount, but the Ann Arbor city council recently decided to settle a class action lawsuit that dates back to 2019. As part of the settlement, anyone who had tires chalked by the Ann Arbor Police Department may be eligible to receive $1.
The Lawsuit That Sparked the Settlement
As the city noted, the story begins with Sean Yannotti, who filed a proposed class action lawsuit in federal court. He claimed that the police violated his Fourth Amendment rights—specifically, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures—by chalking his car tire on April 6, 2019, as part of their efforts to enforce parking ordinances.
More: Court of Appeals Finds Chalking Tires For Parking Tickets Unconstitutional
Just 16 days after the incident, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that would have major implications. The court determined that “tire chalking is a search” and therefore requires either a search warrant or an applicable exception to the Fourth Amendment’s search warrant requirement.
Following that decision, Ann Arbor stopped tire chalking. However, the city had already violated people’s rights and that’s where the lawsuit comes into play.
A Missed Opportunity for Accountability
In the end, the council decided to “avoid the cost of continued litigation” by settling the suit for $1 per class member as well as the “release of all claims against the city, and dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice.” This should enable the city to get off the hook relatively cheaply, but it doesn’t exactly discourage future illegal activity by police.
In fact, $1 appears to be a drop in the bucket as the lawsuit sought parking fines to be refunded as well as compensatory damages of $70. The latter figure was the amount Yannotti was fined and this could have cost the city considerably, even before factoring in legal bills.