Chicago：最高法院拒绝受理扣车案，两位大法官联名声明称对市府做法有严重关切
位于伊利诺伊州库克县的 Chicago 市一项扣车条例在联邦最高法院受到关注。美国最高法院10月19日拒绝受理针对 Chicago 市扣车条例的违宪挑战，但两位大法官联名发出警告。案件源于 Chicago 市政法规第9-100-120条：车主只要积欠三张未缴停车罚单，或两张罚单拖欠满一年，市府即可锁车、拖车、扣押，最终将车辆出售或处置，且售车款不抵扣欠款、余额也不退还车主。原告 Ryan O'Donnell 因524.60美元罚单欠款，名下丰田车被市府以273美元当废铁卖掉；另一原告 Michael Goree 本人并无欠款，仅因其汽车贷款共同签署人在另一辆车上有约560美元未缴罚单，雪佛兰座车同样被拖走交给留置权持有人。联邦第七巡回上诉法院此前裁定该制度属于市府警察权的正当行使。最高法院此次以简短命令拒绝调卷，但大法官 Sonia Sotomayor 发表五页声明，大法官 Neil Gorsuch 加入。Sonia Sotomayor 称她对第七巡回裁决有「严重关切」，认为对州警察权的尊重不应掩盖宪法权利；但她也表示，应先让更多下级法院审理同类问题，本案未必是合适的载体。律师指出，该裁决与最高法院2023年关于欠税房产拍卖的判例存在张力，当时法院裁定政府出售房产抵税后不得私吞超出欠款的余额。据声明援引的估算，Chicago 每年罚单收入约2.64亿美元，约占市府运营预算的7%。（GSM 据最高法院卷宗 No. 25-1098 与公开报道）
Chicago: Supreme Court Declines to Hear Car-Seizure Case, as Two Justices Warn of Serious Concerns Over the City's Practice
In Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, a city car-seizure ordinance drew attention at the U.S. Supreme Court. On October 19 the Court declined to hear a constitutional challenge to Chicago's vehicle impoundment ordinance, but two justices issued a joint warning. Under Section 9-100-120 of the Municipal Code, a driver with three unpaid parking tickets, or two unpaid for a year, can have a vehicle booted, towed, impounded and ultimately sold or disposed of, with sale proceeds neither credited against the debt nor any surplus returned. Plaintiff Ryan O'Donnell owed $524.60 in tickets and saw his Toyota sold for $273 in scrap value; plaintiff Michael Goree owed nothing himself, but his Chevrolet was taken and handed to the lienholder because a co-signer on his car loan had about $560 in unpaid tickets on a different vehicle. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld the scheme as a legitimate exercise of the city's police power. The Supreme Court denied review in a brief order, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a five-page statement joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, saying she has serious concerns about the 7th Circuit's conclusion and that deference to state police powers should not eclipse constitutional rights, while agreeing that more lower courts should weigh in first and that this case may not be the right vehicle. Lawyers noted tension with the Court's 2023 ruling that a government selling property for unpaid taxes may not keep surplus funds. The statement cited an estimate that Chicago collects about $264 million a year in ticket revenue, roughly 7% of its operating budget. (GSM, based on Supreme Court docket No. 25-1098 and public reporting)
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：美国最高法院大楼资料图，公有领域（Wikimedia Commons）
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
