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W.D. Tex.: Religious symbol on dashboard cannot be a factor in a stop under the First Amendment

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A religious symbol on one's dash, allegedly there to forestall stops of drug couriers, cannot constitutionally be a basis for a stop. United States v. Magana, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24859 (W.D. Tex. March 13, 2008): This routine traffic stop case implicates the First and Fourth Amendments. It involves an officer who initiated a traffic stop after observing what he believed to be a defective tire. After verifying the tire was not in fact defective, the officer detained the driver, because among other things, the driver had a religious statue on his dashboard. The officer stated that in his experience and opinion, religious symbols are used to dispel suspicion of wrongdoing and are usually indicative of drug activity. The Court finds that religious symbols cannot be used to generate reasonable suspicion of drug dealing or criminality...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 01, 2008 (boomark / email).