How Cops Can (And Will) Pull You Over For Almost Anything

Sorry, But Cops Can And Will Pull You Over For Almost Anything

“…an officer’s mistake of law, no matter how reasonable, cannot support the individualized suspicion necessary to justify a seizure under the Fourth Amendment. I respectfully dissent.” – Sonia Sotomayor

If you asked the general public, most people would agree they aren’t worried about being pulled over when they are not breaking the law. That is a very reasonable assumption, and completely makes sense to most Americans. However, under a new Supreme Court ruling, the majority of those Americans would be wrong. A police officer, under the 4th Amendment, is lawfully allowed to pull you over with reasonable suspicion of breaking the law. But according to the new ruling, “reasonable” means just about anything one could imagine.

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rea·son·a·ble
[ree-zuh-nuh-buh l, reez-nuh-]

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adjective
1. agreeable to reason or sound judgment; logical:
a reasonable choice for chairman.
2. not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason; not excessive:
reasonable terms.
3. moderate, especially in price; not expensive:
The coat was reasonable but not cheap.
4. endowed with reason.
5. capable of rational behavior, decision, etc.

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Above is a straightforward definition of reasonable. Mostly, the definition of “agreeable to reason or sound judgment; logical” is what applies to police officers. To a normal person, it would be safe to assume that whether you’re a police officer or not, one should be held to those standards. However, after the court ruling of Heien v. North Carolina, the definition of reason changes for a police officer. Now, due to lack of proper training standards by the government as an excuse, an officer can essentially pull over any person as long as the officer has completed police training. Basically, if you’re a sworn in officer, anything you do while on police duty can be considered reasonable.

Ignorantia juris non excusat

Roughly translated, this means “Presumed knowledge of the law.” In a court of law, a person could not use ignorance of the law to get out of committing a crime. For instance, if a defendant charged with statutory rape claimed they weren’t aware it was illegal to have an explicit relationship with a minor, that person would be still charged with a crime. Yet after the Supreme Court’s new ruling, an officer of the law is not held to these same standards. If they are ignorant of the law, their training is to be blamed, not the actual officer.

Example #1:

An officer pulls you over in South Carolina for having one broken taillight (the other is fully functional). The officer searches your car, and finds a small amount of marijuana. Yet in South Carolina, the law states that motorists only need to have one taillight. In the past, the evidence would have been thrown out for an unwarranted stop. Now, the officer simply has to state they thought it was illegal to have a broken taillight, thus justifying the stop. You are still responsible for the marijuana charge due to the officer’s ignorance.

To put it short, an officer’s ignorance of the law is now completely acceptable. Since an officer has completed the basic training required to be sworn in as an officer, anything they believe they are doing correctly is essentially viewed as correct and reasonable.

Example #2:

You are a New Mexico resident on a road trip through Texas. In New Mexico, it is only required that you display your rear license plate, and the front plate is not necessary. However, an officer sees you do not have a front license plate, and pulls you over. Upon inspection of your vehicle, it is discovered you are in possession of a small amount of cocaine in your glove box. Theoretically, you were in complete accordance with the law of your license plates, and therefore the stop should not have been warranted. In the past, the charges would have been dropped due to an unlawful stop. However, due to the new ruling, since the officer was “reasonably” confused about the law of the one license plate in New Mexico, those charges are still able to be pursued. Even though the officer was ignorant of the law, it will no longer matter in the courts eyes.

Example #3:

You are driving down a road, and you notice a police officer pulling out of a parking lot. You make eye contact with that officer, and for whatever reason, hold eye contact for a few seconds. The officer thinks you are suspicious, and begins to follow you. After you notice the officer following you, you begin to get nervous behind the wheel. After several turns through streets, you are light putting on your blinker to switch lanes due to nerves. The officer pulls you over. After pulling you over, the officer notes they have a faint smell of alcohol. You are breathalyzed, and found to be slightly over the limit. In the past, this officer’s suspicion would not have been justified, as following for an unreasonable amount of time would have been an illegal stop. However, now, the officer would simply have to claim that they were coincidentally traveling the same direction, and weren’t aware they were following the vehicle. The defendant will still be charged with a DWI/DUI, since the officer believed they were acting reasonable.

What This All Means

Basically, what this all means is that you have no longer have an excuse to not be a law-abiding citizen. In the past, you would have received a “get out of jail free card” if you were stopped unlawfully. In the present time though, that option is no longer an out. There are many people that would argue that if you aren’t doing anything illegal, there is nothing to worry about. Now, these people who believe that can cite the courts ruling. While these new terms to protect officers from unlawful stops are in place, it can fully be argued that anyone found breaking the law for any reason and who were caught in any way, lawful or not, should be prosecuted. Overall Judge Sotomayor and the courts want you to keep one thing in mind: Don’t break the law, and you won’t have to worry about this situation.