Posted on 07/01/2014 7:29:53 AM PDT by circlecity
From a news release:
Indianapolis - The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of a woman who was pulled over and interrogated after her bumper sticker caught the attention of Indianapolis police officers, violating her First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights.
On June 17, Pamela Konchinsky of Indianapolis was turning into the Merchants Garage on South Meridian Street in her silver Toyota minivan when two Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers entered the garage immediately behind her. One of the officers told Konchinsky that she was being detained because of a bumper sticker taped to the rear window of her minivan, which read: "Unmarked Police Car." The officer told Konchinsky that people would think she was impersonating a police officer and that someone might shoot her. After reviewing her license and registration, Konchinsky was ordered to get out of her car and remove the bumper sticker.
IMPD officers' subjecting Konchinsky to detention, questioning, intimidation and harassment over the message on her bumper sticker violates two constitutional amendments: the First Amendment protecting free expression and the Fourth Amendment prohibiting unreasonable and suspicionless seizures.
"We contend that the police officers who detained and interrogated our client without legal grounds to do so violated her constitutional rights, said ACLU of Indiana Staff Attorney Kelly Eskew. "The promise of our Constitution is that these lines cannot be crossed."
The lawsuit, Pamela Konchinsky v. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officers John Doe I and John Doe II, Cause No. 1:14-cv-1078,was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, on June 27, 2014.
I agree with the cops on this one.
It belongs in the you can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater file.
>> Stopping the car just to determine if someone was really claiming to be a cop is reasonable.
It’s probably over your head, but the whole point of her humor (and it IS humor) is that no unmarked police car could possibly be labeled as such. Or it would be a marked police car and then the label would be false. Get it now?
The woman is an idiot.
No laws broken....unless some state or county goofball made a law listing 1,323,883 bumper sticks illegal by their wording. Another cop with nothing to do, and no training. Send him home permanently, pay the gal $10k for stupid harassment, and move on.
It’s a stupid bumper sicker. But, it’s the last one a real unmarked police car would have on its bumper.
I'm inclined to agree with you. But she could change her sign to "NOT AN UNMARKED POLICE CAR' and she probably would be stopped again.
“This bumper sticker is false!”
but hey--i guess if two Freepers do not get the joke, then maybe it is dangerous to drive around with that sticker... hahaha--smh...
There are so many times they turned a blind eye to the most egregious violations of our Constitution, the aclu has no credibility at all.
More police officers that are unable to process a joke. At least they didn’t follow her home and shoot her dogs.
Does anyone know WHY she likes driving around with a bumper sticker that says “Unmarked police car”? I’d like to hear her explanation. Does she do watch patrols? Is she into citizens arrests? Was this a video stunt? Context, folks.
The police do have an interest in questioning her because it is against the law in most jurisdictions to impersonate a police officer and if that was her purpose, she could do things that might later cause others to assume she is the official police department when she is not.
Oh, I understood that. But what if it really was some nut or something else. Yeah, that's a thousand to one chance but cops are often criticized for not anticipating that thousand to one possibility. LE is also very touchy about bomb jokes in airport waiting lines. Given the situation the interaction should be as brief and nonconfrontational as possible, which it appears to have been here.
Yea, because undercover cops always label their “unmarked” Toyota minivans.
Yeesh.
It’s rather cut and dry and nothing wrong here unless they shot her dog.
But really, why follow her into her garage? That’s an act of immediate aggression. Can’t they simply call from the sidewalk or go to their front door and knock?
Why does it all have to be in your face confrontation all the time.
I wonder if “Mom’s Taxi” will soon be illegal for impersonating a taxi.
“Another cop with nothing to do, and no training.”
He just wanted to get home safe at the end of his shift and what safer way to do so than by going after a law-abiding citizen? It’s way too dangerous to go after real criminals.
Think about this for a second. Would cops commit roadway robbery by handing out tickets to traffic law violators if every time they did so they were shot at by them? Absolutely not! They be going after the real criminals because the law-abiding are too dangerous to deal with.
Do people have a First Amendment right to walk around in a police uniform also? I always thought impersonating a police officer was illegal. I am leaning on the side of the police in this one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.