ANDRE VERDUN, ET AL V. CITY OF SAN DIEGO, ET AL, No. 21-55046 (9th Cir. 2022)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs brought a putative class action under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 alleging that tire chalking violated the Fourth Amendment. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment for Defendants and held that municipalities are not required to obtain warrants before chalking tires as part of enforcing time limits on city parking spots. The panel held that even assuming the temporary dusting of chalk on a tire constitutes a Fourth Amendment “search,” it falls within the administrative search exception to the warrant requirement. Complementing a broader program of traffic control, tire chalking is reasonable in its scope and manner of execution. It is not used for general crime control purposes. And its intrusion on personal liberty is de minimis at most.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment for defendants and held that municipalities are not required to obtain warrants before chalking tires as part of enforcing time limits on city parking spots. Plaintiffs brought a putative class action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that tire chalking violated the Fourth Amendment. The panel held that even assuming the temporary dusting of chalk on a tire constitutes a Fourth Amendment “search,” it falls within the administrative search exception to the warrant requirement. Complementing a broader program of traffic control, tire chalking is reasonable in its scope and manner of execution. It is not used for general crime control purposes. And its intrusion on personal liberty is de minimis at most. Dissenting, Judge Bumatay stated that the administrative search exception is still the exception. It is no doubt true that law enforcement, traffic enforcement, and almost any other government function would be more efficient and more convenient if officers could skirt the Fourth Amendment. But neither the original understanding of the Fourth Amendment nor Supreme Court precedent permit a policy of indiscriminate searches for such an ordinary government enterprise. While chalking tires may not constitute the greatest affront to personal liberty, the court’s duty is to safeguard against even “stealthy encroachments” on the Fourth Amendment. Thus, Judge Bumatay would not expand Fourth Amendment exceptions to accommodate the City’s chalking program and would hold that it is unconstitutional.
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