So what this means is that a cop has no reason to even study the law.
If you don’t like the guy’s looks, just search him, arrest him and let the court figure it out.
So when can we start rifling through the judges bank accounts and homes?
Only citizens get in trouble for not knowing the law. The cops and the elite can do as they please.
No, it does not.
At the time of the stop, there was no reason to believe only one working light was required. AFTER THE STOP, a court case was decided by a lower court that interpreted the law to mean only one light was required. Another passage in the same law strongly indicates the lower court decided incorrectly. The NC Supreme Court was not asked to rule on the validity of the lower court’s interpretation, so they did not.
In any case, it was completely & 100% reasonable for a cop to interpret NC law as requiring all the lights to work AT THE TIME THE INCIDENT TOOK PLACE. No cop can be required to outguess what a future court ruling might decide.
Further, there is no constitutional right to not be stopped. A cop can stop you for any reason and not violate your rights. He has not arrested you, nor has the state punished you in any way. There is no constitutional right to not be pulled over. There never has been.
Once you have been pulled over, if you then give the police permission to search your car, the search is not illegal or unconstitutional. Why? Because you gave permission.
This kind of idea from the justice system has been building/growing over many years.
There are people on here who will disagree with you.
What it says to me is cops can throw anything against the wall and see if it sticks. In the meantime the citizen has to either pay the fine or hire a lawyer, take off from work and go to court and hope he wins. Most can’t afford that so they pay the fine. And cops know this.
And now the SC has just told all cops to pull anyone over they want and search their cars. All they have to say is “I thought they were breaking a law.”
You understand perfectly.