Alsip Woman Still Fighting For Change To Rules After Getting Snow Route Ticket, Despite No Sign About It
ALSIP, Ill. (CBS) -- At the end of last winter, a total of 259 people were all ticketed after parking in a snow route in Alsip.
As we approach this snowy season, CBS 2's Marie Saavedra reported Friday that one of those people is still fighting to get the village's parking rules changed.
We first met Shellie Lewis back in March on a cold day outside Alsip's Village Hall. It was about this ticket she got for parking in the street in front of her condo after 3 inches of snow.
But there was no street sign that said not to do so.
"I was amazed - kind of flabbergasted," Lewis said at the time, "because I'm used to literally everything being posted."
At her day in court in February, she paid the ticket - along with 258 other people, all cited for the same thing.
"The person holding court explains to us that every street in the city is a secondary snow route," Lewis said last winter. "It doesn't need signage. The law is on the website and we're all in violation."
It is law, posted on Alsip's village website, and at Lewis' hearing a judge said there is no way a municipality could post signs for every possible violation.
But eight months later, Lewis is still fighting.
"They think that it's right to do, and I'm questioning that," Lewis said. "I want it reviewed."
Attorney Mark Weinberg has now joined Lewis.
"They are stealing people's money by tricking them into parking," he said.
They have brought a case arguing it's a violation of the 14th Amendment.
"This doesn't give people fair notice of where and when they can park, and thus, it violates the so-called fair notice doctrine in the Constitution," Weinberg said.
A judge dismissed the suit in district court, but they're not giving up.
"Now we're going to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and we're saying, 'No, the lower court's wrong, please reverse him - let this case go forward,' and we'll see what happens," Lewis said.
Back in March, the attorney for the Village of Alsip encouraged anyone unhappy with their violation to appeal it, and Lewis sure has. To those who think this is a lot of fight for a $50 ticket, Lewis has a message.
"It's a working-class neighborhood. There's a lot of factory workers. There's a lot of blue-collar workers," she said. "They don't have the time to go into court. They don't have the time to fight it. I do."
Their first hearing is set for January.
We reached out to the mayor of Alsip and attorneys representing the village for comment, but did not hear back Friday night.
