I fought the law...

I received an important letter yesterday. I opened it carefully. There, in black and white and ALL CAPS, was the stark heading:

CITY OF CHICAGO, a Municipal Corporation,
Petitioner.
v.

COON, CHRISTIAN T.
HIGHLAND PARK, IL
Respondent

It was The Man against little ol' me, humble servant of the community, preacher of the gospel, well-meaning father and husband. And I won.

In April, I went downtown to the Adler Planetarium (which is a pretty average destination IMHO) with my aunt, uncle, and cousins (who are not average, in case they're reading this--they are very much above average) and I parked on Columbus Drive so we could all go over to Adler in the same car. We drove separately because they were going to leave to Michigan from there. There were signs noting that there was no parking from 7 am-4 pm because of a special event, but when I parked, it was after 4 pm. I even figured out the new parking meters and paid my fair share. A few weeks later, however, I received a letter and parking ticket from the city saying I had committed a violation.

Not true! I thought to myself. I debated whether it was worth the hassle of fighting it and decided it was. I photocopied my credit card statement, which showed I had paid for the parking. It was a pretty flimsy defense because it didn't necessarily prove anything, only that I had paid for parking that day, but it didn't say what time I had paid or where I had paid. I sent it along anyway, thinking that they would give me a break.

Someone did. The letter I received yesterday stated that a very important "Administrative Law Officer" (a Martin J. Kennelly, Jr.) had reviewed my "evidence" and it was the officer's finding "that the violation does not contain all the required information as set forth in the ordinance." In other words, I don't have to pay.

My first victory in court and I certainly hope it's the last time I have a "v." in front of my name (as in City of Chicago v. Christian T. Coon). I'm not sure why or how I got off. I'm not one to abuse my position, but I seem to recall signing my name Rev. Christian T. Coon. Just in case.