Stupid cop tricks
by digby
An Indianapolis woman has sued the city’s police department, contending that an order to remove an “Unmarked Police Car” bumper sticker from her minivan violated her rights to free speech, the group representing her said on Monday.
A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on Friday argued that Indianapolis police did not have the right to question and make demands of Pamela Konchinsky after pulling over her vehicle earlier this month.
“We contend that the police officers who detained and interrogated our client without legal grounds to do so violated her constitutional rights,” ACLU attorney Kelly Eskew said in a statement. “The promise of our Constitution is that these lines cannot be crossed.”
According to the complaint, Indianapolis police officers told Konchinsky the bumper sticker would make people think she was impersonating a police officer and could get her shot, before demanding that she remove it from her rear window.
Forget the constitutional issue. What about the fact that these cops actually think that someone would believe police put stickers on their windows declaring themselves to be “unmarked.” And assuming they are cops, they then shoot at them? Does that happen a lot? Or is it that these are good friends of the police who just open fire on people they think are impersonating cops?
If this is a big problem then I’m going to guess that cops should stop wearing uniforms and driving around in those black and white cars.
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