Each Wednesday, we’ll publish quick summaries of the articles from the last week on TheNewspaper.com. We’re doing this because these articles are often strongly connected to the issues that National Motorists Association members are interested in.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Kentucky Supreme Court Rejects Consensual Traffic Stop Chats
Conversations with police at the conclusion of a traffic stop are presumed to be involuntary, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled last week. The justices were in full agreement that the evidence against motorist Stewart M. Turley had to be thrown out because Kentucky State Trooper Jerry Knight had no right to question passengers during the stop, contrary to the state’s insistence that the chat was “consensual.”
Monday, May 27, 2013
New Jersey: Court Upholds Man Arrested For Visible Gun Case In Car
Motorists driving through New Jersey can be subjected to a warrantless search if their luggage is similar in appearance to a gun case, an appellate court ruled last week. The Superior Court’s Appellate Division upheld a five year prison sentence against Dustin S. Reininger, a former police officer who was in the process of moving from Maine to Texas when a Readington Township police officer recognized the cases in the back of Reininger’s vehicle as the sort that usually carries a rifle.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Australia, Italy: Speed Cameras Burned, Blown Up
Vigilantes in the province of Rovigo, Italy blew up a speed camera last week Saturday. According to Il Gazzettino, an incendiary device was placed inside the camera housing on the SP482 in the town of Bergantino. The explosion caused massive damage to the inner workings.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Wisconsin Appeals Court Shuts Down Speeding Ticket Defenses
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Thursday decided to shut down a motorist who won and a motorist who lost a speeding ticket case in a circuit court. The appellate judges ruled, in effect, that the validity of a speed limit can never be challenged and there is never a valid excuse for violating the limit other than saying a police officer made you do it.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Federal Judge Applies GPS Ruling To Drug Dog Traffic Stop
The effect of the Supreme Court’s landmark Jones ruling outlawing warrantless GPS surveillance of motorists continues to affect the way drivers are treated at traffic stops. Last week, a judge with the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia applied the precedent to the common police practice of “permeation” where a police officer enters a suspect’s vehicle without warrant or consent to facilitate a drug dog sniff of the car’s exterior.
