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Each year Chicago impounds tens of thousands of cars, imposing harsh penalties and rapidly accruing towing and storage fees on their owners. It is nearly impossible for many Chicagoans to come up with enough money to get their cars back. The system traps even innocent owners in its bureaucratic maze. But a class action lawsuit announced today by the Institute for Justice (IJ), a national civil liberties law firm, and three car owners, seeks to bring an end to Chicago’s unconstitutional impound scheme.
The lawsuit challenges two aspects of the city’s impound scheme: that it subjects innocent owners to fines for crimes they did not commit and that the city holds cars as ransom until their owners pay all fines and fees. Imposing any fine on someone who did nothing wrong is an excessive fine and violates due process, in violation of the Illinois and United States constitutions. And holding a car for no other reason than to force payment is an unconstitutional seizure.
“No person should be forced to pay for someone else’s offense,” said IJ attorney Diana Simpson. “Chicago imposes harsh penalties on owners of impounded vehicles, even if they did not know that someone used their car to break the law. Moreover, Chicago holds all impounded cars as ransom, sometimes for long periods of time, until an owner pays all fines and fees. This unjust process violates both the Illinois Constitution and the United States Constitution.”
The city impounds cars for myriad reasons, including being driven by a person with a suspended license, playing audio that can be heard more than 75 feet away, or littering. As too many Chicagoans know first-hand, getting a car back from the impound is a lengthy and expensive process. In 2017 alone, more than 22,000 cars were impounded under the program being challenged in the new suit. Fines and fees associated with such impounds added to more than $28 million in 2017. What some may not realize, however, is that the city subjects the innocent, as well as the guilty, to this burdensome process.
https://ij.org/press-release/class-action-lawsuit-challenges-chicagos-impound-racket-2/
Donate to IJ: https://ij.org/support/give-now/
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