Monday, April 28, 2003

When to say Whren and driving while black

In this Eighth Circuit case of Johnson v. Crooks, the female plaintiff claimed she was stopped because she is African-American, the defendant deputy sheriff claimed that it was because the driver was over the middle line. Deputy Crooks won the appeal on qualified immunity, even though the driver swore that she never crossed the line.

This strikes me as the best reason to oppose laws that allow authorities to make stops to enforce seatbelt laws - it makes it very easy for police officers to justify pulling over whomever they like, whenever they like, but I guess Mr. and Mrs. Johnson would say that is already the case.

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