A Little Different for Us: Tire Chalking Doesn't Violate the Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment isn't part of the usual fare for ConLaw courses in law school. But we thought this one deserved some attention (especially if you drive--and park--in the Ninth Circuit):

The Ninth Circuit ruled that tire-chalking for enforcing time-limits on city parking lots is NOT a Fourth Amendment violation. The court said that even if it's a "search," it falls within the administrative search exception, and that it's reasonable in scope and manner. Judge Bumatay argued in dissent that neither the original understanding nor Court precedent allows "a policy of indiscriminate searches for such an ordinary government enterprise."

The ruling splits with the Sixth Circuit, which held that tire chalking isn't an administrative search, but didn't say whether it might fall under some other exception to the warrant requirement.