Quote:
Originally Posted by Monkeydad
If he has his car modified to look "gangster" like a typical drug dealer/rapper's car, there would be legitimate suspicion. When I had my windows tinted dark in college, I got pulled over a couple of times without speeding or breaking any laws (other than the tint law) and I brought the attention on myself. They could not see into my car, so they had the right to be suspicious. I have no problem with them doing my job. My cars were never searched and I was never assaulted on those occasions. Let them do their job. I don't see a problem here, other then the live Tweets.
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The burden is on the police in a case like this (brief stop short of an arrest/probable cause) to provide articulable facts as to why they pulled the suspect over; a "hunch" based on what the cop thinks a drug dealer/rapper's car would typically look like is constitutionally deficient. (Working in criminal law this summer and just had a case dealing with this.) Now, if the officer observed the suspect committing a traffic offense, that would provide the reasonable suspicion necessary to effectuate a stop. In this case, the officer claimed that Docket was speeding, but I think that's highly suspect. Dockett says he wasn't speeding and they never issued him a ticket. Also, there is certainly no extant evidence indicating that Dockett's windows violated any tinting laws, you are just asserting that.
Look, I get what you are saying as a practical matter, don't get tinted windows and play loud rap music if you don't wanna get pulled over. But I think we all as Americans need to be a lot more vigorous in defending the Constitution. Dockett is someone who was stopped and detained in a manner that appears to me to have been constitutionally offensive. He knew his rights and fought back and hopefully taught those police officers a lesson, while providing a positive example for other Americans. Remember, the Constitution isn't there to protect criminals, it's there to protect innocent people like us. If you go to China the police can search you for anything they feel like, there are no legal standards, but this isn't China. The prohibition against arbitrary search and seizure was born of a world in which British soldiers harassed Americans with impunity. The minute we start excusing stuff like this the closer we get to reverting back to that world.