Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was pulled over by the police today, because of my ron paul bumper sticker.
I would accept., that I was pulled over for the excuse that it was "obstructing me view" because its on my truck window lower left side. But really its not obstructing my view at all. But the questions I was asked for completely unfair and unamerican and what I think we all know what is going on in this country.
NJ State Cop asks?
Dont you think you should take down those stickers the 08 election is over?
Are you in a militia?
Do you own guns?
Can I search your vechile?
All this from the NJ state police over my stickers obstruction of my view?
Wasnt speeding had seatbelt I was pulled over for my Ron Paul sticker and the cop told me so as a follow up to those who have them on their automobiles.
Free speech is under attack and any political view for that matter.
Please note the location for everyone here on CD. Anyone living in this area or traveling through it should be recording all traffic stops. Video if possible. But, audio just as good.
Watching the government can be fun, as the guy jerked around by the TSA agents suffering from small-pe**s-itis will tell you.
Thanks Liberty for giving me a reason to add MANY Ron Paul and C4L bumper stickers. Hopefully I will be pulled over so I can spy on big brother.
Also, be very cryptic about your responses. An answer to "do you have any guns?" would be only to answer with respect to what you have in the car as a concealed weapon, and add that you're not required to mention otherwise. Of course, in NJ no concealed is permitted if I'm correct.
Stop being a drama queen. It is logical for a cop to stop you if he/she feels you pose a danger with an increased blind spot. It had nothing to do with your sticker being "Ron Paul sticker". You would have been asked the same questions regardless of which sticker you had.
Besides, it ain't bumper sticker if it ain't on bumper.
A police officer operates with discretion concerning the laws of this level. This is taught at the academy level. That is, when a law is broken an officer has the authority to consider the infraction through its spirit of intent. This is why an officer may let you off on an infraction even though you did break the law literally.
If the sticker was reasonably blocking view, the officer can ticket for it. The officer can also use literal interpretation of the law and issue an infraction that would be considered not within the bounds of the spirit of interpretation (what the law was intended for).
The first two questions the officer asked were irrelevant. They did not pertain to any relation of the probable cause of stop and appear to be more personally motivated. The last question is reasonable, yet only for an officer that has probable cause to believe that there is further illegal activity going on (smells something funny, hears a sound from the trunk, sees a covered object that is suspicious, etc...)
The fact that the police officer pulled him over for an obstruction of view violation and the OP explains that he believes that it was not obstructing suggests the officer had a different reason maybe personal, maybe legit. Either way, the reason was not properly supported by the laws and so the "fishing" the officer was doing was in hopes that the OP would volunteer giving up his rights to allow the officer to act on their possible instinct that there may be something more.
In the end, the officer used a vague law to make a stop on someone that he honestly did not have any intended probable cause to do so. Those vague use laws are meant to catch true criminals and when they are used to harass as it is possible this officer may have been doing, then these laws eventually get redefined or stricken from the books ultimately making it harder for other police officers to catch those who are actually serious violators.
Many states place their registration stickers in the windows and depending on the placement of the bumper sticker, the violation may be reasonable or it may not. The point is, the combination of questions along with the type of violation tells me one thing in my experience. Poor police work.
Remember the other person I cant remember in what state. The cop actually took that persons bumper sticker and didnt he have the secret service show up at his house and stuff
So if that can happen over a bumper sticker I believe this could also happen.
I'm going to see if I can still get a Ron Paul sticker, no make that 50 and tell friends this story so they will proudly or defiantly display them. Oh if we get stopped and interrogated by Officer "friendly" (no offense to good guys) would this be entrapment?
I'm not sure I completely believe your story, but if you're Black or Hispanic I can definitley believe the last one.
golfgod
Come on, more race talk? I have had a fair amount of dealings with local law enforcement in my time. And almost everytime I was pulled over as a teen and in my early twenties, the officer asked to search my vehicle. So if you are going to prescibe to this sort of thinking, atleast include teenagers into your demographic. The law doesn't care what color you are, if you are young and in a group, they will search and harrass you.
I was pulled over by the police today, because of my ron paul bumper sticker.
I would accept., that I was pulled over for the excuse that it was "obstructing me view" because its on my truck window lower left side. But really its not obstructing my view at all. But the questions I was asked for completely unfair and unamerican and what I think we all know what is going on in this country.
NJ State Cop asks?
Dont you think you should take down those stickers the 08 election is over?
Are you in a militia?
Do you own guns?
Can I search your vechile?
All this from the NJ state police over my stickers obstruction of my view?
Wasnt speeding had seatbelt I was pulled over for my Ron Paul sticker and the cop told me so as a follow up to those who have them on their automobiles.
Free speech is under attack and any political view for that matter.
That is nonsense, he has a right to stop you for obstructed view and to issue you a citation for it, he could even require that you remove it before you proceed. Everything after that was totally out of line, if it occured
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
