License plate profiling?

The Denver Post recently reported on a lawsuit from a driver stopped and searched by law enforcement in Idaho due in large part to his Colorado license plates. The story is here.

The story should serve as a reminder of the need for a strong Fourth Amendment, for it protects the innocent from intimidation and harassment by law enforcement. Fourth Amendment issues are typically litigated by criminal defendants, who are harder to prosecute when law enforcement has obtained evidence illegally. As a result, the public often views the Fourth Amendment as at best a necessary evil, and at worst a nuisance that benefits criminals. Indeed, there are some populations that deal with police intimidation and harassment all too frequently, and they don’t need the reminder. But for those who need it, here it is: an innocent, 69 year old white man driving at about noon, to his vacation home in Colorado, was profiled, stopped and detained because of the license plates on his car. Any other state’s license plates, and this senior citizen is either not stopped, or if he is stopped, he is quickly allowed on his way without a detention and a search of all his belongings. But because of Colorado’s reform of drug laws, some non-Colorado law enforcement think a Colorado driver is more likely to be guilty of crimes of possession when traveling.

Of course, prosecution of drug crimes, crimes of possession, depend on searches of vehicles, of persons, of homes, more than other crimes. Though the Fourth Amendment is never as robust as civil libertarians (or criminal lawyers) want it to be, it provides some meaningful restrictions on police activity that should have come in to play here. For example, the Fourth Amendment require reasonable suspicion for a stop and detention, limits the length and purpose of that detention, limits when the police can search a vehicle, which parts of the vehicle they can search, etc. Violation of these limitations can be a profound insult to the person stopped and searched without proper cause.

Prosecution of drug crimes therefore takes a toll on innocent people when law enforcement acts zealously and in disregard of the Fourth Amendment. It’s just that we rarely hear from the innocent people who are illegally stopped and searched, because of the time, money, and practical challenges of suing the police. Thankfully, here’s one man shining some light on the subject. Hopefully, Idaho police will act more cautiously before deciding to detain and search a man for marijuana so lightly.