Cokinos v. District of Columbia, 82-2320
| Decision Date | 01 June 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-2320,82-2320 |
| Citation | 234 U.S.App.D.C. 221,728 F.2d 502 |
| Parties | George A. COKINOS, Appellant, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit (Civil Action No. 82-02021).
Peter Ayers Wimbrow, III, Ocean City, Md., was on the brief, for appellant.
Judith W. Rogers, Corp. Counsel, Washington, D.C., with whom Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corp. Counsel, Leo N. Gorman, and E. Huntington Deming, Asst. Corp. Counsels, Washington, D.C., were on the brief, for appellee.
Before TAMM and GINSBURG, Circuit Judges, and BAZELON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Opinion PER CURIAM.
Appellant Cokinos challenges the constitutionality of a traffic regulation, promulgated by the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, which allows the Department to tow illegally parked vehicles from the city's streets to a central lot. On September 4, 1980, Cokinos' car was ticketed for illegal parking and subsequently towed to a central lot. Cokinos retrieved his car, on the same day, after paying the $10 parking fine and the $50 towing charge. He now contends that the procedures by which the District of Columbia tows and impounds automobiles violate the due process clause of the fifth amendment.
Cokinos argues, principally, three points: (1) in a non-emergency situation like the one his case presented, the District of Columbia must provide notice and an opportunity for hearing before towing a car; (2) the District of Columbia provides inadequate opportunities for a hearing after the car has been towed; and (3) regardless of the adequacy of the post-towing hearing, Cokinos, in fact, was never informed of his right to a hearing to challenge the validity of the tow.
As for the right to notice and hearing before towing in a non-emergency situation, we follow the Seventh Circuit's thorough analysis of this identical issue and conclude there is no right to pre-towing notice and hearing. See Sutton v. City of Milwaukee, 672 F.2d 644 (7th Cir.1982). On the adequacy of the post-towing hearing, we note the uncontradicted affidavit of the Chief Hearing Examiner of the Department of Transportation which states that a hearing on the underlying traffic violation is available on demand during normal working hours. Thus Cokinos could have had a hearing within sixteen hours from the time his car was towed. Such a...
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Towers v. City of Chicago
...777 F.2d 185 (4th Cir.1985) (one day's notice and hearing within twenty-four hours of demand is constitutional); Cokinos v. District of Columbia, 728 F.2d 502 (D.C.Cir. 1983) (hearing within twenty-four hours is constitutional); Goichman v. Rheuban Motors, Inc., 682 F.2d 1320 (9th Cir.1982)......
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Qutb v. Ramsey
...Defendants argue that, so limited, plaintiff's claim fails on account of the D.C. Circuit's decision in Cokinos v. District of Columbia, 728 F.2d 502 (D.C.Cir.1983), which rejected the argument that due process required that the District provide car owners with notice and a hearing before t......
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Simms v. Dist. of Columbia
...672 F.2d 644, 645 (7th Cir.1982) (due process protections apply to the temporary detention of private automobiles); Cokinos v. Dist. of Columbia, 728 F.2d 502 (D.C.Cir.1983) (following Sutton). Accordingly, due process applies. “Once it is determined that due process applies, the question r......
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Coleman v. Watt
...The D.C. Circuit has approved a law that provides for a post-tow hearing on demand during normal working hours. Cokinos v. District of Columbia, 728 F.2d 502 (D.C.Cir.1983). The Fourth Circuit has upheld a towing ordinance which provides for notice within one day of the tow, with a hearing ......