Recently, I was listening to an episode of Planet Money (Episode 921: Tales From The Parking Lot) while walking along a tree-lined and car-parked street. In it was a story about a lawyer named Matt Gronda who successfully brought a suit against Saginaw, Michigan because he believes (I’m going to suggest here that this is lawyer “believes” and not genuinely believes) that the chalk placed on your tire by the meter/parking maid constitutes unlawful search.

Let’s pause here for a second to make sure we are all on the same page.

Here is what Gronda is upset about. Someone comes to a public space, specifically the public roadway that can serve as time-limited parking, and parks their car. Then a meter maid stops by, marks everyone’s tires with water-soluble chalk, and leaves. She swings by 2 hours later (the time allotted for free parking) and if the chalk is still there on your tire, you are charged a fee for breaking the rules.

It’s hilarious to me that this has become an argument about unreasonable searches.

Our friend the lawyer is hoping to get the state to refund everyone’s parking tickets (also, presumably to get a significant payout for himself in the process) and stop this practice all together. But consider: if Matt is successful, what is the likely outcome? The city places parking meters at every single one of these 2-hour parking spots and probably charges a small fee for the first two hours you are there, and more thereafter. Likely everyone this lawsuit is “helping out” loses because now they have to pay for their first couple of hours. Not to mention, these same folks will likely still be getting tickets, because if you ignored the 2-hour limit previously, you’re probably going to ignore the expiration on your meter.