A judge has approved a class-action sticker violations lawsuit against the city of Chicago. Two citizens who felt they were being unjustly targeted and overcharged decided to do something about it. They brought their situation to attorneys Jacie Zolna and Ben Swetland who made an unsettling discovery.
The data the lawyers collected showed the city had been overcharging for sticker violations by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time Chicago has been sued for price gouging its citizens. In April, a judge granted a civil action lawsuit for the city’s overpriced tickets against people using cellular phones while driving.
Unfair Prices
During a press conference, Zolna pointed out that Chicago has “once again…failed to follow a simple law.” Adding that failure is “going to cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”
We discovered through this lawsuit is that not only are they ticketing, not only are they disproportionately ticketing minorities in low-income communities, but they are ticketing them in amounts that are higher than allowed in the law.
Illinois state law caps the total amount of fines for a person without a City Sticker on their vehicle at $250. However, the sticker violation lawsuit claims that tens of thousands of citizens have been significantly more than that. In fact, some of the fines were as high as $400.
Refunds for All Victims
The attorneys plan on “asking the court to order the City to refund all of these illegal fines and penalties.” Furthermore, they will be asking for refunds for everyone grossly overcharged in sticker violation penalties.
One of the sticker violation victims is a West Side resident named Rodney Shelton. He joined the lawyers at the press conference and shared his experience.
Shelton stated his grandmother’s old vehicle needed major repairs. As such, it was not functioning. He parked the vehicle in a friend’s private lot so as not to be fined for it not having a parking sticker.
Major Sticker Violation Fines
However, in 2015, his friend called him to report the vehicle had received several tickets. Specifically, 77 tickets for sticker violations. He ended up owing Chicago $20,000 in fines and penalties.
“Just the fact that you have a municipal code that allows you to go on someone’s private property because it’s open, to do that it’s just not right. It’s just not right,” Shelton said.
Those who received a penalty or fine for a parking ticket between Jan. 1, 2010, to now can be part of the litigation. However, the fine or penalty needed to be over $250. People who were victims of these unjust fines will be contacted via letters in the near future.
Spells Major Trouble
Zolna stated that the majority of those penalized over $250 received them for sticker violations. “You get one or two of these tickets and someone is in a lot of trouble because they can’t afford to pay them, and what happens then is they lose their car because the city tows it or they lose their job,” he added.
By Sheena Robertson
Sources:
ABC 7: Thousands likely qualify for class action lawsuit involving Chicago city sticker
WBBM News Radio: Chicago might owe you a refund, thanks to lawsuit over vehicle sticker fines
NBC 5 Chicago: Got a ticket in Chicago? You could be included in a new lawsuit against the city
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Brian Johnson & Dane Kantner‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Erica Fischer’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
