Americans Think Driving Is Freedom. The Law Says Otherwise.
Officers have great discretion when they pull over motorists. The courts keep punting on whether there are any limits.
On Wednesday in Florida, former sheriff’s deputy Zachary Wester was arrested and charged with fabricating evidence, racketeering, and other misconduct. He is accused of stopping dozens, if not hundreds, of motorists for supposed traffic offenses and then planting drugs while searching their cars. Back in the mid-20th century, civil-rights lawyers had a word for this kind of shenanigans: “dropsy.” Some of the motorists whom Wester arrested went to prison. One driver ended up losing custody of his daughter after being convicted of felony meth possession—essentially on the deputy’s word. Wester has been described as a “,” but his case is a symptom of the vast discretion individual officers wield over motorists every day.
