'Whole thing is idiotic,' fumes official as dozens of 'innocent' drivers get ticketed – they were only doing civic duty | 1ES3N93 | 2024-05-07 12:08:01
SCORES of drivers found parking tickets tucked into their windshield after taking part in their civic responsibility.
Lawmakers called court-side parking regulations "idiotic" after a city board failed to overturn the controversial rules.
Jurors in the northern California city of Redding received parking tickets outside the new Shasta County Courthouse.
Some residents fulfilling their civic duty parked in metered spots close to the courthouse after other spaces around the new buildings filled up.
Jurors received parking fines for blocking the metered spots, even after displaying summons orders on car's dashboards.
The courthouse asked the city to rethink the parking policy.
"We do our best to show our appreciation to jurors and the inconvenience they are caused when they are called into jury duty," Melissa Fowler-Bradley, the Court Executive Officer, told local ABC affiliate KRCR-TV.
"The very first day we opened, they actually created a situation where they definitely were restricting access to justice."
The court asked the city to temporarily pause metering enforcement around the courthouse for 90 days.
More parking around the building is set to come online after construction is complete.
Plans to temporarily curb the parking violation tickets outside the courthouse entered debate in the city's five-person council.
However, the members voted three-to-two to keep the parking fines in place.
<!-- End of Brightcove Player --> "It's too bad because the jurors are the most innocent people in the whole thing," Michael Dacquisto, one of the members who voted in favor of the temporary parking change, told KRCR-TV.
"The whole thing is idiotic, and it could've been solved so simply and reasonably and without hurting anybody."
Another councilmember who also opposed the fines, Mark Mezzano, said he thought it was wrong for the city to impose fines on jurors.
"The people do their civic duty to show up for jury duty," he argued.
"To penalize them, I don't think it's right."
<p class="article__content--intro"> You can avoid being ticketed by following all posted laws and ordinances, but sometimes mistakes are made </p> </div> </div> However, jurors have alternative transportation options in the city.
The Redding Area Bus Authority offers free rides to juror members while their trial is ongoing.
The city buses have offered the program since 1997.
Still, the city councilmembers said it should be easier for jurors to grab spots during the temporary decrease in available parking.
"It's obvious to me they don't care about the jurors," Dacquisto said.
"They think it's more important for the city to continue to lose money on parking than to let the jurors park for free."
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