DA beats $65 parking ticket but pays anyway
John Morganelli. Image from the Northampton County District Attorney site.
A parking ticket has been waived for a Pennsylvania district attorney who said he delayed paying to test claims that the city of Easton was threatening to impound vehicles without due process.
But DA John Morganelli has paid the $65 anyway, explaining that he doesn’t want to risk any public perception that his position as Northampton County’s top prosecutor helped him win the case, reports the Express-Times.
Morganelli says he put coins into a meter in December but it didn’t register the payment because it was frozen. More important, he is concerned that the city may not be legally authorized to tow ticketed vehicles because because of a lack of appeal options for ticketed drivers.
He and city officials are working to revise the municipal ticketing ordinance. Meanwhile, the mayor and city solicitor say drivers can appeal to the police chief and in the county’s civil court system. They are looking at possibly creating an adminstrative appeals system overseen by the city’s parking authority.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “DA uses own parking ticket to probe city practices, calls end run around courts unconstitutional”
