A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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March 16, 2006More bad traffic lawsUnder the heading "I'm sure they meant well" comes this practice: police pulling over good drivers to give them free tickets to sporting events as a reward for good behavior. I feel even more strongly than Orin Kerr that this is unconstitutional and will not withstand court review the first time a motorist who didn't like being delayed by the police challenges it.... or the first time an officer arrests one of the "good" drivers upon seeing a bag of pot or a crack pipe in plain view on the front seat. The Court has clearly stated that for traffic stops, motives are immaterial; either there was probable cause to pull him over or there wasn't. Whether the cop's motives were good, bad, or indifferent, the only crucial issue is whether there was in fact probable cause to believe the motorist committed an infraction. These "reward" stops are done without probable cause, and thus are in violation of the 4th Amendment. I was once pulled over by a cop who turned out to be an old acquaintance of mine from several years before. He saw me driving by and wanted to say hello, so he turned on his red lights and chased me down a block. While I wasn't so ticked off as to complain or write his supervisor (he certainly meant well, but it's not like we were long-lost best friends), I really didn't appreciate it. Beyond the brief moment of uncertainty of why the lights were on, I did have somewhere I needed to be. That time, I could afford a small delay, but what if it had been a long delay? Or next time, when I'm running late for work? If the police want to continue this program, let them make participation voluntary (you're only pulled over if you have a certain bumpersticker, say), or issue the reward by mail using the driver's license plate number. Posted by PatHMV at March 16, 2006 12:05 AMComments
Yikes, this is scary Pat. I considered posting the exact same thing about the exact same story. The scariest thing about this is that it ends up giving the police a rationale for pulling over anyone, at any time. It's rife with expanded opportunity for abuse. And like a poster on this elsewhere pointed out, how long is it before this leads to "why not check the person's papers just to make sure everything is in order?" After all, we wouldn't want to give a good driver award to someone who had an outstanding ticket or an expired registration or who wasn't wearing a seatbelt or had failed to pay his last child support payment on time or owed back taxes or missed jury duty, right? Posted by: bk at March 16, 2006 09:20 AMAs Orin Kerr noted, it would give the police justification to stop EVERYBODY. From what I've read of the program, the police department which started it really does mean well and is not trying to use it as a pretext to pull over all sorts of suspicious characters. But it would be far, far too easy to abuse. I like nice cops and community-oriented cops, the friendly beat cop who says hello and maybe stops to chat while you're walking home. But pulling over good drivers to reward them for good driving is just not their job. Besides, aren't there robberies and stuff they need to be working on? Posted by: PatHMV at March 16, 2006 09:46 AMPutting aside my libertarian (and constitutional) objections to this practice, is there really no better way for the police to spend their time? Like maybe pulling over some of the reckless jerks of the type that I encounter on the road on a daily basis? Posted by: Todd Pearson at March 16, 2006 10:11 AM |
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