Shreveport Mayor says that when the police stop you, 'your rights are suspended'

My Bossier ^

[mad_as_he$$]

Bad Judge, no pasta.

[OneWingedShark]

Ouch.
Though I notice you’re not disagreeing with my cause-and-effect analysis.

[Still Thinking]

So the mayor’s interpretation of the Fourth Amendment is that you’re protected from unreasonable search and seizure as long as you’re not actually in the presence of a government employee. I have work boots smarter than this moron.

[Still Thinking]

I've been told ANY time a officer stops you......you are in fact under arrest.

Not true. Essentially any contact with a LEO can escalate through three stages. Call the first stage contact, where he's just talking to you and you could choose to walk away if you wanted. Then detention, where you're not free to leave, but the situation could be resolved in the next few minutes. A traffic stop would fall into this category. Finally, arrest. For each increasingly serious stage, the officer has to have a higher degree of reasonable suspicion/probable cause, and it has to do with time as well. He could certainly detain you for 15 minutes with a reasonable suspicion but no probable cause. If he tried to keep you for 45 minutes, you might be able to make the case later that your detention was unreasonable. You can always ask "Am I free to go, officer?"

[elkfersupper]

the first African American Mayor of his hometown...

Sounds like he should have concentrated a little more on the "American" part of his hyphenation.

Africa has places like Somalia and Zimbabwe.

I don't know why we would want that here.

[elkfersupper]

I've been told ANY time a officer stops you......you are in fact under arrest.

Actually, they don't have to "stop" you in order for that to be true, they only have to "contact" you, whatever that means.

[elkfersupper]

You had better bone up on your own Constitutional rights.

So, I would bet that you are a cop.

[elkfersupper]

It is a sad day when we have come to this point in this country, but you are absolutely correct.

[rickomatic]

You had better bone up on your own Constitutional rights. So, I would bet that you are a cop.

No. I am not a cop. Perhaps you misunderstood what I was saying. If you read this whole thread, you'll see that my statement is in fact in line with most of the posters here. That being that whether you are being questioned,detained, or suspected of something by ANYONE in authority, your Constitutional rights are what protect you from their abuse. None of your rights are ever "suspended" unless and until you are judged guilty of a crime and sentenced.

[elkfersupper]

None of your rights are ever "suspended" unless and until you are judged guilty of a crime and sentenced.

Except for the automatic convictions like DWI.