BRAVO TO THE 10TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS: law enforcement officials in Kansas cannot stop and search motorists for having nothing more than out-of-state license plates from states that have legalized marijuana.

KHP responds to court ruling; out-of-state license plates don’t justify search

August 25, 2016 by Hays Post  


TOPEKA, KS – The Kansas Highway Patrol has responded to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on Tuesday that says law enforcement officials in Kansas cannot stop and search motorists for having nothing more than out-of-state license plates from states that have legalized marijuana.



The court said the officer’s reasoning would justify the search of citizens from more than half of the states in the country.

The court reinstated the lawsuit filed by a Colorado motorist against two Kansas Highway Patrol officers who stopped and searched his vehicle while he was driving alone at night on I-70 in Kansas.

It found the officers violated Peter Vasquez’s Fourth Amendment rights in searching his car.

Twenty-five states permit marijuana use for medicinal purposes, with Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, and Washington, D.C. permitting some recreational use under state law.

 Unfortunately these patrol cops do it all the time, i.e., violate people's civil rights against unreasonable searches.  We are aware of numerous cases where people driving at night are stopped on a routine basis throughout the US and not just Kansas.  The cops find these days a very typical excuse, such as : "swerving to the right or left".  

Using this "swerving" pretext, they stop, detain and search the vehicles.  They have caused enormous damages to so many citizens and they always get away with it.  Hopefully this above Court Decision will be the beginning of the end for just illegal stops and searches and detainment.