Yeah, happened again..G-nette county, got pulled for Loud Exhaust. What now?

[Kaiser]

There's nothing unconstitutional about the exhaust law. For a law to be "Unconstitutional" it has to actually fail to "Pass Muster." Using a personal judgement of the officer has been proven repeatedly to be a perfectly effective way of deciding enforcement levels. Terry stops are a good example (Terry v. Ohio 392 U.S. 1 (1968)) of where a police officer saw NO actual wrongdoing but proceeded to act anyways. The state law as far as noise pollution is concerned is very easy to interpret and is LESS subjective than the Reckless Driving or Too Fast for Conditions laws, both of which are regularly upheld.

The very idea that the law is "Unconstitutional" because of the fact that the officer has to make a judgement call on how to enforce it is ridiculous. Laws are constantly being interpreted by the police as they make rulings on how to enforce them. That's part of their job and duty as the primary means of enforcement for the law and members of the executive branch. Whether they interpret the law the same way as a judge, lawyer or lawmaker does is arguable, and thus the reason why we have a number of tickets being overturned in the system.

OP: As far as it goes, you can put a muffler on the car and go to your court date with a receipt from a muffler shop and probably use that as proof you got it fixed. You can have said muffler shop weld a bolt-up flange and easy-remove hangers for your new muffler. You can drive muffled integra around, not have cops bother you as often, save your hearing and when you get to the AutoX events, unbolt your muffler and go free-flow.

[m3dic8d]

There's nothing unconstitutional about the exhaust law. For a law to be "Unconstitutional" it has to actually fail to "Pass Muster." Using a personal judgement of the officer has been proven repeatedly to be a perfectly effective way of deciding enforcement levels. Terry stops are a good example (Terry v. Ohio 392 U.S. 1 (1968)) of where a police officer saw NO actual wrongdoing but proceeded to act anyways. The state law as far as noise pollution is concerned is very easy to interpret and is LESS subjective than the Reckless Driving or Too Fast for Conditions laws, both of which are regularly upheld.

The very idea that the law is "Unconstitutional" because of the fact that the officer has to make a judgement call on how to enforce it is ridiculous. Laws are constantly being interpreted by the police as they make rulings on how to enforce them. That's part of their job and duty as the primary means of enforcement for the law and members of the executive branch. Whether they interpret the law the same way as a judge, lawyer or lawmaker does is arguable, and thus the reason why we have a number of tickets being overturned in the system.

OP: As far as it goes, you can put a muffler on the car and go to your court date with a receipt from a muffler shop and probably use that as proof you got it fixed. You can have said muffler shop weld a bolt-up flange and easy-remove hangers for your new muffler. You can drive muffled integra around, not have cops bother you as often, save your hearing and when you get to the AutoX events, unbolt your muffler and go free-flow.

I completely disagree. I've gotten so many tickets for stupid shit just because the officer had a Napoleon complex going and decided to take it out on everyone that fits into a certain mold that he happens to dislike. I get tired of being fucked with nonstop for stupid shit like not having tags when I was driving the car home from purchasing it. He wrote me a ticket that I'm going to have to go to court to deal with. Not the only time shit like that has happened but the most recent.

I believe it is unconstitutional because if you catch an officer that doesn't like you, your car, or is simply having a bad day you're going to get a ticket because it's his judgment call. And sorry, but I don't feel that's the way it should be. How many times have I been pulled over for some bullshit reason and gotten multiple tickets that shouldn't even be against the law (driving past curfew because I didn't switch my license over, window tint, exhaust, driving with no tags even though I had just bought the car, improper lane change for avoiding an accident because he didn't see the other car, etc etc).

It's corrupt and there are a lot of cops out there that shouldn't be.










Flame on, because I know I'm going to get tons of people coming in talking about how they protect us blah blah blah... go ahead

[Kaiser]

I completely disagree. I've gotten so many tickets for stupid shit just because the officer had a Napoleon complex going and decided to take it out on everyone that fits into a certain mold that he happens to dislike. I get tired of being fucked with nonstop for stupid shit like not having tags when I was driving the car home from purchasing it. He wrote me a ticket that I'm going to have to go to court to deal with. Not the only time shit like that has happened but the most recent.

I believe it is unconstitutional because if you catch an officer that doesn't like you, your car, or is simply having a bad day you're going to get a ticket because it's his judgment call. And sorry, but I don't feel that's the way it should be. How many times have I been pulled over for some bullshit reason and gotten multiple tickets that shouldn't even be against the law (driving past curfew because I didn't switch my license over, window tint, exhaust, driving with no tags even though I had just bought the car, improper lane change for avoiding an accident because he didn't see the other car, etc etc).

It's corrupt and there are a lot of cops out there that shouldn't be.










Flame on, because I know I'm going to get tons of people coming in talking about how they protect us blah blah blah... go ahead

Unconsitutionality of laws isn't decided by whether or not you like them or agree with them. I know lately this is a hard concept for people to grasp. I'm not a big fan of cops, laws, or government as a general rule. If you knew my particular political preferences you'd understand. However you can DISAGREE with FACTS if you want, it doesn't make you correct. Your OPINION and examples of police officers performing their jobs poorly don't change the basic principles of government in this country.


Oh. And just because you have the charges dropped in court doesn't make you innocent, doesn't make the law invalid, doesn't make the cop wrong, and doesn't make you right. Plenty of people who are DUI get the charges dropped. Some of them hurt people. One T-boned me and my Fiance, she spent six weeks in intense pain and a sling for her left arm. We were lucky, the brand new Pontiac Grand Prix rental car was totalled, I spent the night in the ER on a backboard because the Paramedics absolutely refused to believe I didn't have a crushed pelvis and broken back because of how severe the crash was. He got out of the DUI ticket and last I heard was fighting the ticket he got for running the red light to nail us. We had seven witnesses to it. He probably still got it dropped because the judge just didn't want to deal with the case. Does the system work? Sometimes. Is it good? Not particularly. Is it better than, say, France's system? Yes, by far.

I just got done fighting a no-insurance ticket in Marietta City. It got dropped essentially because I hired a lawyer and the solicitor didn't want to deal with a real case. Didn't even really care if I had insurance or not. I told him I did, my Lawyer agreed, we had what looked like proof, and so he let it go and dropped it entirely. I still think the cop was a dick that was looking for a reason to give me a ticket, but that doesn't change the fact that I MIGHT have stolen the car and been driving without insurance, could have t-boned someone's daughter and killed or injured them and left them holding the bag since I didn't have insurance. Situations can suck, and sometimes we get the bad end of them, but the constitutionality of laws, the rule of law, not the mob rule that so many people want us to have, not the "democracy" little kids keep getting told we live in, that doesn't change. We live by a set of laws governed by the constitution. The humans who make those laws, interpret those laws, and enforce those laws are all fallible, and so is what they made. Facts, on the other hand, and the fact of a law's constitutionality (Whether the constitution is wrong or right on the subject) doesn't.

[m3dic8d]

So you're argument is that being pulled over for invalid reasons are valid because someone in your same situation (no tags, window tint, loud exhaust etc) might have killed someone?



That's fucking retarded. I shouldn't be punished for what other people do. I shouldn't feel like every time I pass a cop I'm going to be pulled over and given a ticket when I'm making a conscious effort to obey the laws of the road and then given a ticket for bullshit. The system is fucked up and there is no two ways about it. Yes there are cops out there that are legit, but there are also enough that aren't to give all of them a bad name.

[ISAtlanta300]

That's fucking retarded. I shouldn't be punished for what other people do.

Sucks, but that is life and that is how it is. The same reason why you have to take your shoes off at the airport. Most laws are made to prevent you from doing what other people did....