WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 -- After three unpaid parking tickets totaling about $524, Chicago towed Ryan O'Donnell's car and sold it for its $273 scrap value. He received no compensation. On Monday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she has "serious concerns" about the federal appeals court ruling that let the city do it.

Her statement, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, came with the Supreme Court's denial of O'Donnell's petition in O'Donnell v. City of Chicago, so the Seventh Circuit's ruling stands. Sotomayor concurred in the denial because the lower courts are divided and, in her words, "this case is not the best vehicle to resolve the split."

Under Chicago's code, a driver who fails to pay as few as two parking tickets risks forfeiting his vehicl...