3 ms·

What are you talking about? It's a civil violation, like a speeding ticket or almost every other ticket that cops write that don't involve you being hauled off

What are you talking about? It's a civil violation, like a speeding ticket or almost every other ticket that cops write that don't involve you being hauled off to jail.

sandworm101 6y ago
Speeding is a crime. If a cop suspect you of speeding they can pull you over, search your car and basically ruin your entire day if they so choose. Proper decriminalization would mean that cops, even with strong suspicions that you are carrying drugs, would not be allowed to stop/search. That would be akin to a parking ticket.
- throwawayboise 6y ago
  THey still need cause to search your car. Not that they won't manufacture it if they want to. But I've been pulled over for speeding, expired tags, and other minor traffic issues a few times and have never had my car searched.
  - sandworm101 6y ago
    >> But I've been pulled over So you did get pulled over. So you were in detention/arrest (insert lawyer debate here) as in you were physically stopped. At that point the cop can search your car. He probably did. He almost certainly looked in the back seat and counted the number of passengers/objects there, something he could not do as you sped by. He then examined your life in that he looked to see if you had outstanding warrants and whether your insurance/license/registration was all in order. Had he wanted to, he could remove you from the vehicle and pat you down for weapons. Speeding, being a crime, allowed him to do these things that parking tickets do not.
    - giantg2 6y ago
      "Speeding, being a crime, allowed him to do these things that parking tickets do not." That's not entirely true (excluding the pat down). The "search" you are talking about is simply plain sight/smell/etc. A cop writing a parking ticket can look through the window of your car and run the plates to see if it's stolen, lacking registration, etc. In either case they need probable cause to do an actual search of your vehicle. Not to mention, they can stop (in most states) you even if you didnt commit a crime, like at a DUI checkpoint.
      - brewdad 6y ago
        Funny enough, DUI checkpoints are illegal in Oregon.
        giantg2 6y ago
        Good, they should be. It's too bad so many others allow it.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    The level of what qualifies as probable cause varies by state too. For example, I've heard that the courts in MD have held that police can pull you over and search your car on the basis that the owner has a carry permit from another state (as shown in NCIC when scanning your plate).
giantg2 6y ago
An offense doesn't need to result in imprisonment or custody to be criminal. A citation is an arrest without custody - you are promising to appear at court. This is generally how summary offenses are handled in many states. This includes summary traffic citations. If you look at the rules for judicial proceedings they will fall under the criminal proceedings. They will also show up on your record. That's how my state and neighboring states work. I guess maybe your state is very different. Which is part of what I was asking about. Any offense, civil or criminal, must be defined in statute or code. So can you point me to that?

What are you talking about? It's a civil violation, like a speeding ticket or almost every other ticket that cops write that don't involve you being hauled off to jail.

sandworm101 6y ago

Speeding is a crime. If a cop suspect you of speeding they can pull you over, search your car and basically ruin your entire day if they so choose. Proper decriminalization would mean that cops, even with strong suspicions that you are carrying drugs, would not be allowed to stop/search. That would be akin to a parking ticket.

throwawayboise 6y ago
THey still need cause to search your car. Not that they won't manufacture it if they want to. But I've been pulled over for speeding, expired tags, and other minor traffic issues a few times and have never had my car searched.
- sandworm101 6y ago
  >> But I've been pulled over So you did get pulled over. So you were in detention/arrest (insert lawyer debate here) as in you were physically stopped. At that point the cop can search your car. He probably did. He almost certainly looked in the back seat and counted the number of passengers/objects there, something he could not do as you sped by. He then examined your life in that he looked to see if you had outstanding warrants and whether your insurance/license/registration was all in order. Had he wanted to, he could remove you from the vehicle and pat you down for weapons. Speeding, being a crime, allowed him to do these things that parking tickets do not.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    "Speeding, being a crime, allowed him to do these things that parking tickets do not." That's not entirely true (excluding the pat down). The "search" you are talking about is simply plain sight/smell/etc. A cop writing a parking ticket can look through the window of your car and run the plates to see if it's stolen, lacking registration, etc. In either case they need probable cause to do an actual search of your vehicle. Not to mention, they can stop (in most states) you even if you didnt commit a crime, like at a DUI checkpoint.
    - brewdad 6y ago
      Funny enough, DUI checkpoints are illegal in Oregon.
      - giantg2 6y ago
        Good, they should be. It's too bad so many others allow it.
- giantg2 6y ago
  The level of what qualifies as probable cause varies by state too. For example, I've heard that the courts in MD have held that police can pull you over and search your car on the basis that the owner has a carry permit from another state (as shown in NCIC when scanning your plate).

giantg2 6y ago

An offense doesn't need to result in imprisonment or custody to be criminal. A citation is an arrest without custody - you are promising to appear at court. This is generally how summary offenses are handled in many states. This includes summary traffic citations. If you look at the rules for judicial proceedings they will fall under the criminal proceedings. They will also show up on your record. That's how my state and neighboring states work. I guess maybe your state is very different. Which is part of what I was asking about. Any offense, civil or criminal, must be defined in statute or code. So can you point me to that?