Is this Legal/Ethical?

[Prince Regent]

As the curfew was midnight he was technically violating it

Dude a curfew? Im intrested to know where do you live. North Korea or something?

Aside from that, this situation has nothing to do with ethics and would seem legal to me.

 

[Berethond]

And yes, 16-18 year olds should be allowed to drive whenever the fuck they want when they have a license. Just because they're minors doens't mean they're not people. And by that age I was pretty responsible, even if some arbitrary law said I was less of a person because I was two years younger than I was supposed to be.

i'm 16 and I really would not want either me or my friends to drive past then. Not only do you get tired,out driving skills are not exactly perfect.

Did you know in Greece you cannot even drive until you are 18? I think it is a privilege even be able to drive at all at that age.

Anyway, like I said at least 10 times on this stupid thread, IT'S THE LAW. If you think it is unfair, TAKE IT UP TO COURT. What will whining to me do? nothing!

I may have been picked as the few kids in america to go and study law at DC, but i'm no government official. You can argue all you want but all that does is make you look like a dick. Do to the actual government if you want to change it

Actually, the police officer's actions were illegal because he cited him without reasonable cause. It's illegal in the U.S. to pull over a motorist because of suspicion he's violating license provisions, there has to be evidence of some other illegal activity.

For example, police officers cannot attend a court session in which someone's license is revoked and arrest them after the defendant drives away in his car.

 

[Fraught]

Legal? Yes. Ethically sound? No.

Curfew laws are, in and of themselves, bullshit anyway.

 

[Double A]

it is indeed the law. and although i don't necessarily think it's fair, i would point out that "driving while 16" is a much bigger public hazard than the old standby "driving while black".

besides, i want those darn kids off my lawn!

I don't want to go into the whole story right now, but now it's "Driving while being white, male, and older than 50."

 

[chrono16]

Cop was in the right.

Neighbor was in the wrong.

Not everything is black and white. I really think that 3 minutes of minor violation does not equal 2 years of suspension from driving. Theres a time to crack thw whip, and theres a time to let things slide. This was one of those times.

It's not the job of police to pick and choose how and when they enforce the law.

The officer did his job.

Period.

My father was a cop. My grandfather was a cop. I plan to be a cop someday. I'm familiar with the law, and cops can exercise discretion in instances like these.

It doesn't matter how you think or feel.

There is no issue of ethics or illegal activity on the part of the officer.

He enforced the law on someone breaking the law.

Get over it.

If he was tailing the guy, he could have been tailing him for a good 3 minutes. Why did he wait? If he ran the plates and the kid came up on the car and it had his age, then the cop should have stopped him at midnight. I have a couple friends who have been caught after curfew. They got a ticket. No license suspension. The court will probably throw this out. The cop probably got yelled at by his teenage son before his shift and was taking out frustration...

 

[HT_Black]

...You have a curfew? Where do you live?

 

[Woodsey]

Technically the policeman was legal, but it's also just dumb.

3 minutes on a clock is negligible difference to say the least. I've got clocks in my own house that are 5 minutes apart.

 

[YuriRuler90]

the curfew is only for kids like 16-18. it's to protect them from getting hurt. Do you want 16-18 year olds driving around past midnight?

I enlisted when I was 17. I was given an M16A2 at 17. I was driving a goddamn M1A2 Abrams by the time I was 18. Don't spew your baseless bullshit about age and maturity.

 

[Scout Tactical]

If the cop tailed him home and asked to see his vehicle inspection, found it expired, and ticketed him, I'd think the same thing.

That would also be illegal for the cop to do, according to U.S. law.

US federal law doesn't have the jurisdiction to prohibit this, therefore it cannot be "illegal in the US". I shouldn't be surprised that you don't understand the law, though, since you can't even keep yourself from doubleposting on a forum.

You should know that California has pretty heavily restrictive privacy laws in comparison to other US states, so even if you're right about illegality from the perspective of your home state, you're wrong about a US-wide blanketban. Of course, I'll be happy to apologize if you quote and provide links to US federal law that prove me wrong.

 

[Jackhorse]

The law is wrong.

Why is the law there? Perhaps to protect people, perhaps to keep order? Generally for the protection of the common interests. This lad did not pose a threat to anyone, driving is driving like eggs are eggs no matter the time of day. There was no threat to the peace, people wern't going to uprise and topple the those in charge over youths being allowed out after 12, social order could be maintained while allowing a young person to find their way home. No one benefits from this.

I live in England so I naturally think this whole curfew thing idiotic, ageist and a breach of all those concepts of liberty and justice for all which you cling to so blindly.

 

[Ensiferum]

It's legal. A bit douchey perhaps but legal.

 

[Daveman]

Cop was within his rights to do so if the law states it however I expect he's also allowed to be lenient in certain cases so maybe he was also being a dick. And what's with having a law enforced curfew anyway?

 

[Jackhorse]

Also, not to mention that the kid probably did something to catch the guys attention while driving. policemen do not tail someone for looking young.

Yeah right, you really believe police don't profile people?

So, you claim that, in the dark, the police man somehow saw the kid looked young, and decided to tail him, even though he probably had better stuff to do, and pull him over and charge him.

You can say that the cop's headlights were on, and aiming at the road, by cops normally have their headlights off in the dark so people do not notice him or so he does not bother other people. And even if he did, he was able to tell in the quick amount of time the kids was passing that he was under 18?

Ignoring that you beleive a police officer can't tell the difference between a fully grown adult male and a teen (I'd expect that cop would've tailed him if he were anything under 21 as he would've been suspiciously young looking) even by a profile or a street light he stopped at or a flash of the headlights.
Why are police trying to avoid being noticed? Surely the aim should be to prevent crime if possible rather then just catch in the act, if a cop could catch a mugger or stop the mugging happening in the first place surely he should try for the latter? The law shouldn't be against criminals it should be for the people.

Sorry about the double post I didn't read all the way through em before doing my first one