Posted on 03/30/2014 2:38:34 PM PDT by CedarDave
Boise, Idaho (CBS SEATTLE) An Idaho state trooper arrested and fully searched a 70-year-old Washington mans vehicle solely because he had a Colorado license plate a state where marijuana is legal a federal license plate profiling lawsuit alleges.
Darien Roseen was driving along I-84 between his second home in Colorado and Washington state on Jan. 25 when Idaho State Trooper Justin Klitch immediately pulled out from the Interstate median and began rapidly accelerating to catch up to Roseen, according to the complaint in a Courthouse News Service report. Exiting at a designated rest area, Roseen says he became uncomfortable that Klitch had followed him though he had not done anything wrong.
~~ snip ~~
At no point did Trooper Klitchs line of questioning relate to Mr. Roseens alleged improper driving pattern, the complaint states. Instead, Trooper Klitch immediately accused Mr. Roseen of transporting something illegal.
Roseens attorney, Mark Coonts, told Courthouse News that his clients constitutional rights were given no regard.
We believe that Americans should be able to travel interstate highways without being harassed and unlawfully detained because of license-plate profiling, said Coonts. Our client, Mr. Roseen, is a 70-year-old retiree who was returning from his daughters baby shower. He was stopped in Idaho and deprived of his constitutional rights because he was driving a car with a license plate from a state that ISP associated with marijuana.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattle.cbslocal.com ...
What is the JBT ping list?
I did clean it up. A little.
Good thing he didn’t have his dog with him.
Right now the JBT ping list is intended as a badge (intended) of shame for the most egregious supporters of abuse of POlice power.
I’m reconsidering that policy.
do not want RUNNING AWAY
It’s in flux right now. I originally intended it as a jab at badge lickers.
That may change.
Stick around, it may become a ping list to unite the serfs against Nottingham.
no,no.....Colarado tags are probable cause.
Pot heads are thus qurantined
And you better not have an NRA sticker on your back window. Those things can interfere with your ability to see what's behind you, dontcha know?
A Colorado plate isn't "reasonable cause"?
I detest the growing police state and it sound like this guys rights were PROBABLY violate, BUT... I am not sure.
Basically, a cop sits on the tail of a car with Colorado plates and then the driver starts acting suspiciously. That is a profiling all good cops do. Get you nervous and see how you react. If the driver had just kept going down the road at the same speed in the right lane, there isn’t a darn thing the cop could have done to him, legally. Instead, he acted in a suspicious manner, pulling off the highway.
Now, is that alone enough to warrant reasonable suspicion on the part of the cop? No, probably not. Cops make a lot of honest people nervous when sitting on their tail. A lot of people would probably pull over at some point just to see if the cop is really following them or just driving behind them.
I don’t really see this as the kind of jackbooted mentality that warrants my complaints like no knock raids and DUI checkpoints.
Cop intentionally makes the driver nervous to see what he will do. Driver blinks, and cop pursues because driver is acting like he has something to hide. Driver gives permission to search the vehicle, which was his mistake. He should have given no permission and asked if he was being arrested or detained or could go on his way. He never should have given permission, because there was no just cause for a search by the cop. But he gave his permission, and that allowed the cop to legally search.
I don’t think the driver has a leg to stand on, and I consider this good old fashioned policing, not jackbooted thuggery.
So flame away. Or tell me what I am missing in the story, because I don’t see an abuse of power by the cop here. I see hardball tactics making the driver nervous to see what he would do, and that’s all I see.
No real problem, except for being stopped for being outta state and having long hair and driving slow.
(Some were criticized for "Y'all shouldn't be movin' 'round without ID's)
He would have had his $5 or $10 returned to him later.
Maybe you need a SITTM ping list---stick it to the Man.
In a free society a cop should not be trying to make a citizen nervous in the first place. It's a cop's job to be alert for violations, not to provoke violations.
It is false to say the cop pulled the driver over for having a CO plate. The fact is, the cop profiled the driver for having a CO plate and simply followed him to make him nervous and see what he would do. The driver pulled himself over instead of just maintaining speed and heading down the highway. Once he failed to signal, he gave the cop an EXCUSE to contact him. He did not have to give the cop permission to search his car, but he did.
The cop did nothing wrong in this case and the driver doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
True the cop profiled him, and we now know the cop was right to profile him, as he did have Marijuana in the car.
What we need is to decriminalize Marijuana so all the asinine gang wars and crimes surrounding it stop. Meanwhile, it is illegal in Idaho, the cop correctly profiled the driver, and the driver made a couple of mistakes giving the cop the legal opportunity to bust him.
No you may not search my car. Am I under arrest? Am I free to go? What are the charges? No I do not waive my rights. Lawyer.
Some are more paranoid than others. Should the easily paranoid be selected by surveillance pressure?
Stopping at rest area seems to be normal behavior. "Am I free to go?"
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.