Getting a single parking ticket in Lorain led hundreds to lose their driver’s licenses

This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project - Cleveland , a nonprofit news team covering Ohio’s criminal justice systems.

For years, hundreds of car owners had their driver’s licenses suspended in Lorain for minor tickets like parking too far from a curb.

Now, Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley has paused the ticket-writing practice, and a municipal court judge began dismissing cases on Tuesday.

The action comes days after The Marshall Project - Cleveland began asking about the thousands of parking violations issued in Lorain neighborhoods.

At issue are the parking tickets and who’s been writing them. In Lorain, the city allowed auxiliary officers — who don’t hold police powers — to target parking violators with criminal summonses for minor infractions such as pa