Jill Roper can’t afford two parking tickets in two weeks. So she’s taking her case to court
Age: 23
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Profession: Research assistant
Goal: Beat the rap
First, Jill Roper got a ticket for parking “within 30 feet of the approach to a stop sign” in her Pittsburgh neighborhood of Shadyside. Her boyfriend, a second-year law student, reminded her that ignorance of the law wasn’t a defense, so she begrudgingly paid the $100 fine.
The next week, there was another ticket on the windshield of Jill’s white Chevy Prizm. "I saw the yellow paper with the same $94.50 and thought, you've got to be f-ing kidding me," Jill says. Worse, this time it was legally parked on the other side of the same sign — so Jill took her case to the judge.
Challenging the ticket is inconvenient and she’s dreading the upcoming court date, but Jill doesn’t have the cash to do otherwise. Her $1,800 monthly salary as a research assistant at the University of Pittsburgh goes fast. Fixed expenses include $635 in rent, and a couple hundred for groceries, utilities and occasional nights out. And even then, she's frugal: she admits she limits herself to one beer when she goes out with friends.
“I’ve gotten stingier and stingier,” she says, noting that she's also paying off student loans and recently put her $1,700 MCAT prep class on her credit card. "There’s a lot of bills. I can’t afford another ticket.”
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