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Whitfield v. City of Atlanta

The trial court erred in considering the merits of the plaintiff's constitutional challenge to a city ordinance because he did not properly present the ordinance and it was not otherwise made part of the record.

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James Whitfield filed suit against the City of Atlanta and Secure Parking Enforcement, LLC “SPE” after his car was booted in Northeast Atlanta while illegally parked in a lot reserved for customers of a dry cleaning business. In his complaint, Whitfield sought a declaration that the City ordinance authorizing and regulating vehicle immobilization is unconstitutional and that the practice of booting is thus unlawful. In the alternative, Whitfield contended that the signage in the parking lot where SPE had booted his car failed to comply with certain specifications prescribed in the vehicle immobilization ordinance, thus entitling him to recover as damages the cost of removing the immobilization device.

Both defendants answered the complaint, and the City moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Thereafter, the trial court granted the City’s motion to dismiss and ordered SPE, whose answer had been filed by its owner, a non-lawyer, to obtain counsel to enter an appearance by a date certain. When SPE failed to do so, the trial court struck SPE’s answer and, following a hearing, entered a default judgment against SPE for the $75 cost of removing the boot, plus court costs. In its final order, the trial court expressly rejected Whitfield’s contention that the ordinance is unconstitutional.

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