My friend Kathy Kelly was on Chicago Public Radio this afternoon talking about her recent trip to Amman, Jordan to visit Iraqi refugees. You can listen to the broadcast here. Kathy is the co-coordinator of Voices For Creative Non-Violence, a “campaign of resistance to end the Iraq War and the ‘Global War on Terror.’” You can learn more about them at their website www.vcnv.org. Kathy is a three time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and also co-founded Voices in the Wilderness, a group which opposed Iraqi sanctions for ten years before the war.

I had a run-in today with a couple of Chicago cops trying to give me a $200 parking ticket. I’ve taken enough crap from the city parking enforcement as it is, so I’ve decided to contest the ticket and write them a nice letter. Here are the contents. Any lawyers out there feel free to comment.

To whom it may concern:

On Tuesday, March 6, 2007, at approximately 4:18pm I was picking up a friend at 6165 N. Winthrop Ave. in Chicago. My car, a 2001 burgundy Saturn, was standing in a handicapped-parking zone for no more then 10 minutes, and at no time did I leave the vicinity of my vehicle. After my friend entered the vehicle, I was about to pull out when a police car came up beside me and blocked my exit. The officer driving told me I was in violation of a handicapped-parking zone. He then asked to see my license, which I provided him. My license is from New York State, and because of this he asked me to exit the vehicle. He then told me to put both hands on the vehicle while he searched my pockets and patted me down. Then he asked me if I had any drugs or weapons on me or in the car. I told him that I didn’t, after which he continued to ask me the same question at least five times, to which I always responded, “No.” He told me that because I had a New York license he couldn’t accept it as bond and would have to take me down to the police station. Then he asked me if he could search my car. I agreed to let him search, at which point he asked my friend to also exit the vehicle while he searched the car. After conducting a thorough search and not finding anything, his partner issued me the parking ticket. They told me to get an Illinois license as soon as possible or they would have to take me to the station. They got back in their police car while my friend and I re-entered my vehicle. The police car left first and then I drove off.

I believe that the parking ticket was not justified because according to Chicago Municipal Code §9-4-010: “Parking (to park)” means the standing of an unoccupied vehicle otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading property or passengers. Because I was loading a passenger and never left my vehicle, I was actually standing, also according to §9-4-010: “Standing (to stand)” means the halting of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in receiving or discharging passengers; provided, that, an operator is either in the vehicle or in the immediate vicinity, so as to be capable of immediately moving the vehicle at the direction of a police officer or traffic control aide. The handicapped parking sign and §9-64-050 for which I was cited do not prohibit standing. Therefore, I ask you to dismiss this citation. Furthermore, I believe that I was the victim of police harassment given the extraordinary treatment I was given for an unwarranted parking violation. This may or may not be due to the fact that I am of Asian descent and my passenger was of African descent. I realize that the police have a job to do and that the Edgewater neighborhood has certain undesirable elements, but this does not give the police a right to violate my civil liberties. This is a matter I will take up at another time, but for now I ask that you uphold justice and dismiss this citation. Thank you for your time and understanding.

Sincerely,

Se-il Oh

They were quite good at the Congress Theater last night.