Governor’s Wife Parks in Disabled Spot — What Judge Does Next Will Make You Cry

Do you want to be someone who takes what is convenient even if it hurts others? Or do you want to be someone who considers how your actions affect people you will never meet? Do you want to be someone who dismisses others’ struggles? Or do you want to be someone who tries to understand even when it is hard?

These are the questions that matter. These are the choices that define us—not the big dramatic moments, but the small everyday decisions about whether we see other people as fully human and worthy of consideration.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Sarah took Emma to physical therapy. The therapy center was downtown. Parking was always difficult, but there were two disabled parking spots right in front of the building. Sarah had the proper disabled placard hanging from her mirror. She had every right to use those spots. She needed those spots because getting Emma out of the car and into her wheelchair took time, space, and effort that most people cannot imagine.

On October 5th, Sarah pulled into the parking lot at 2:15 in the afternoon. Emma’s therapy appointment was at 2:30. Both disabled spots were taken. One car had a disabled placard. That was fine—that was what those spots were for. But the other car did not have a placard at all. It was a brand-new silver Mercedes. No disabled plate, no placard hanging from the mirror, nothing.

Sarah had to park far away in the regular lot. She lifted Emma out of the car, unfolded the wheelchair, settled Emma into it, and pushed her all the way across the parking lot in the cold wind. They were late to therapy. Emma missed the first 15 minutes of her session. Those 15 minutes mattered. Every minute of therapy mattered for Emma’s progress.

After therapy, Sarah went back to the parking lot. The Mercedes was still in the disabled spot. Sarah was tired. She was frustrated. She did something she normally would not do. She waited. She sat in her car with Emma and waited to see who would come out to that Mercedes.

Twenty minutes later, a woman walked out. She was maybe 50 years old. Expensive clothes. Expensive jewelry. Perfect hair. She walked with no difficulty at all—no cane, no limp, nothing that would require a disabled parking spot.

Sarah rolled down her window. She said, “Excuse me, ma’am. I noticed you do not have a disabled placard. Those spots are for people who really need them. My daughter needs them.”

The woman looked at Sarah like she was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe. She said, “I was only inside for an hour. It’s not a big deal.”

Sarah said, “It is a big deal to us. We were late because of it.”

The woman got into her Mercedes and said through her window, “Maybe you should get here earlier then,” and she drove away.

Sarah wrote down the license plate number. She was shaking—not from anger, but from the unfairness of it all. She reported it to parking enforcement. She thought maybe there would be a ticket. She thought maybe it would matter.

Nothing happened for three weeks.

Then Sarah got a notice in the mail. The woman had been identified and cited. There would be a court hearing. Sarah was listed as a witness. The woman’s name was Victoria Ashford.

When Sarah saw that name, her heart sank.

Victoria Ashford was married to Governor James Ashford—the governor of the entire state.

Sarah almost didn’t go to the hearing. She thought, “What chance do I have? This is the governor’s wife.”

But then she looked at Emma. She thought about every other parent with a disabled child who needed those spots. She thought about doing the right thing even when it is hard. So she came to court.

Victoria Ashford walked into my courtroom like she owned it. Her lawyer was polished and confident. Victoria herself looked annoyed that she even had to be there. The charge was simple: parking in a disabled spot without authorization. The fine was $250.

It should have been a ten-minute hearing.

Victoria’s lawyer argued there were extenuating circumstances. He said she was meeting with the therapy center director about a potential donation. Then he asked me to resolve it with a warning—because she was the governor’s wife.

I asked Sarah to testify.

Sarah told the court about Emma, about the wheelchair, about missing therapy, about trying to explain why the spot mattered. The defense tried to make her seem petty. Sarah answered quietly, then firmly. She said every minute of therapy mattered.

Then the defense implied Sarah was doing this for attention.

That was enough.

I asked Victoria to testify.

She admitted she parked in the disabled spot. She admitted she had no placard. She admitted she saw the sign. She said she was “only there for a few minutes.” She admitted she told Sarah she should have arrived earlier.

I asked her if she had ever cared for a child with a disability. She said no.

I took a recess.

I thought about my own son, Michael, who used a wheelchair in the last years of his life. I thought about what justice really means.

When I returned, I asked Victoria to stand.

I told her that character is not about what you do when people are watching. It is about what you do when you think no one will notice.

I fined her the maximum $250, to be donated directly to the therapy center.

And I sentenced her to 40 hours of community service at that therapy center—helping children with disabilities and assisting their parents.

Her lawyer objected. He said it was excessive.

I said it was appropriate.

The appeals court later upheld my decision.

Victoria completed her hours. Then something unexpected happened.

She kept coming back.

She volunteered. She helped raise funds. She became an advocate for disability services. She changed.

Sarah later saw her again in the parking lot—not taking a spot, but helping another parent lift a child into a wheelchair.

Justice is not always about punishment. Sometimes it is about understanding. Sometimes it is about empathy.

If you have ever parked in a disabled spot without needing it, I am asking you—please do not do it again. Those spots are not convenience. They are access. They are dignity.

Sarah changed things one parking spot at a time.

This case stays with me because it reminds me why I became a judge—not to punish, but to insist that everyone matters.

Not your money. Not your name. Not your power.

What matters is whether you considered someone else.

These are the choices that define us. Not the big dramatic moments, but the small everyday decisions about whether we see other people as fully human and worthy of consideration.