Some University of Memphis students are piling up hundreds of dollars in parking tickets on campus.
During three parking citation appeal hearings during the summer sessions, more than 300 appeals were heard, mostly by students with a handful of traffic offenses.
Seven University of Memphis students were cited at least ten times this summer by U of M's Parking Services, according to judicial affair's Web site.
The offenses ranged from $10 meter time violations to one $100 citation for blocking a handicap curb.
The Student Court, comprised of eight associate justices and one chief justice, hears and decides all parking citation appeals. Although during the summer, the entire court does not meet. Therefore, the decisions are heard solely by the Chief Justice, Carmen Mott.
But because of court privacy rules, Mott was not able to speak about the particulars of the cases.
However, Winston Taylor, junior communications major, was willing to speak about his citations.
"It was stupid in my opinion," he said.
Taylor said he usually parked in Lots 44 (on Central) and 15 (on Southern) and got tickets "daily until I went and fixed it" because his parking permit was outdated, accumulating $250 in citations.
"At that time, my tag had fall 06 and it was spring 07," he said.
Winston said he didn't feel it was fair because his tickets weren't serious offenses such as parking in a handicapped parking space.
He said he wanted to challenge the appeals in person, but "they never called me. It's kind of retarded."
Dwayne Scott, associate dean of students, spoke generally about the citation appeals process.
"No if a student violates the policy, they have to pay the fine. There's not a penalty" for recidivism, he said.
And as to whether increasing penalties on those with multiple citations was a good idea, he said, "I don't want to speculate."
Scott said students have not indicated increasing penalties for multiple citations as something they want and that students interested in the appeals process should read the "steps to appeal" on the Office of Judicial and Ethical Programs Web site for more information.
These steps outline such things as fully understanding the charge against you and supplying all the information you have to prove your case. The steps also inform students they are entitled to a hearing in person, though, according to The U of M Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities, no student can be found guilty of a charge "solely because the student failed to appear before a disciplinary body."
Winston said he got a number of letters from The U of M notifying him he had an unpaid balance and when his attempts to appeal failed, he saved money over the summer to pay the fines.
"It was getting closer and closer to the semester starting, so I just paid them," he said.
