Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Law School Took My Soul: They won't understand

I got a really stupid parking ticket at the student recreation center today. I quickly approached the ticket nazi and she said "I could see your decal it will be fine just appeal it." So I wrote my appeal and submitted it only. Come to find out, it is a student run board. Poor undergrads, they will have no clue what I'm arguing and will probably enforce the citation just because they think I'm a douche for making a valid argument. I might have to pull out the old school fraternity shirts that I haven't worn in 5 years to make my appeal. What if my ticket nazi isn't around? I doubt that she will be. I doubt I could get it tossed on Sixth Amendment grounds. Certainly, I could appeal it to a real court (kidding); these citations have to infringe upon interstate commerce... everything affects interstate commerce.

Here is what i filed with the parking authority:

I was given a citation for "Improper Affix Permit" with the comment "Permit behind law school decal." I appeal because my decal was displayed within the guidelines provided by the school. The rules state "18.Failure to display a current parking permit while on campus will result in the issuance of a parking citation. All charges, including tow charges and the purchase of current permit will be assessed before the vehicle is released." I was displaying a valid and current parking permit (the law school decal and commuter decal). The law school decal was hanging from the rearview mirror face out facing the windshield (as is often necessary to access the law school parking lot). Furthermore, the law school decal is a valid, unique (it has a parking number), and official parking decal (it must be given by the law school registrar). The law school decal is only issued to currently enrolled law students who have purchased a regular commuter decal. Law school parking is only available at the law school in connection with a commuter parking decal. Therefore, the law school decal directly establishes that the owner is a SE Commuter. Behind the law school decal was my commuter parking decal, which was "face out" facing the rear of the car (as is often necessary to access the law school parking lot) so that all identifying information was easily visible to the proper official. The only other regulation listed (and notable not within the "Parking and Traffic Rules" section) is that "Failure to display a current parking permit while on campus will result in the issuance of a parking citation. All charges, including tow charges and the purchase of current permit will be assessed before the vehicle is released." As noted supra, I was in compliance with this regulation as well. Both decals were hanging from the rearview mirror and were face out respectively. I had my decals properly affixed to the guidelines. This citation was invalidly operated. The guidelines as applied should be void for vagueness and ambiguity.

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