Quadriplegic Ticketed for Parking in a Handicapped Spot

This story from Portland, Oregon, is the perfect example of just how burdensome our "law and order" society has become:

A quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair got a $360 ticket for parking in a handicapped spot on Monday.

Gordon Pike said a volunteer enforcement team from Washington County confiscated his disabled placard after telling him the card was invalid.

Pike was hurt in Vietnam in 1969 and has been in a wheelchair ever since. He said he doesn't understand who the disabled parking spots are for if he doesn't qualify.

"(It) kind of wrecked my day," Pike said. "What are these spaces for? If they're not for me, who are they for, you know?" ...

... Sgt. Dave Marzilli of the Washington County Sheriff's Office said it appears that his enforcement volunteers did the right thing.

"Was It a valid citation? Yes," Marzilli said. "They checked through DMV and saw that permit matching that number was invalid and it was, so they issued a citation for it."

But Pike said it should've been obvious that he needed the parking spot. Plus, he still believes the disabled placard was valid. He said he wants the sheriff's office to take a closer look at who they use as volunteers he said they need to be more courteous.

OK, so no one was dragged from bed in the middle of the night and shot, but who says we have to let it get to that point before we start complaining?