Is this Legal/Ethical?

[gbemery]

The law is the law. And look on the bright side the cop saved your neighbor money on 2 years of gas, oil changes and other repairs such as new tires etc. Now your neighbor will have more money for other things or more time because he doesn't have to work for that extra money.

 

[tyciol]

I don't have a problem with a 16 year old driving. Curfew laws and ageist driving restrictions like this are wrong. Yet if you think so, your job is to change it via protesting and via voting. Now, since you can't vote under 18, your job is then to lobby for the suffrage you desire so you can remove those restrictions.

Order is not meant to be simply ignored, the law should be obeyed. If it were organized civil disobedience then perhaps, but clearly it's just someone trying to skirt the rules and not get caught which is different.

 

[enriel]

If the cop saw him out and about at 12:03 and pulled him over? Yeah, sure.

If the cop saw him 11:whatever and followed him, just waiting for the clock to strike midnight so he'd actually have a reason? Not sure of the legality but fuck that guy.

Maybe people wouldn't have such poor opinions of cops if there wasn't such an overwhelming number of douche bags who seem to care more about the act of policing than the intent behind it. You really shouldn't go out of your way to catch someone on a technicality like that.

 

[dj Facchiano]

SNIP

The driver broke the law.

The police officer did nothing wrong.

If you cannot understand that, best we stop the conversation here, least it turn into an argument.

YES ALMIGHTY GOD OF THE ESCAPIST, ALL OF US HERE ACCEPT YOUR GLORIOUS POWER TO END THREADS WHEN YOU DISAGREE!

Anyway, in my opinion this curfew law was set in place to keep teenagers from staying up and doing stupid shit at night (like 2am-7am) Though the cop had the power to punish this teenager his reason for doing so is not the reason this law was created in the first place so yeah, he was pretty much just being a dick.

 

[enriel]

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.

Get over yourself. There is a point where enforcing a law becomes unreasonable and is just done for for the sake of being pedantic. Stop looking at things in such dry black and white patterns and then forcing your stupid opinions on everyone else.

Are you not forcing the opinion that opinions should not be forced? Careful of the double edged sword.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

To be honest would you want a teen racing through the streets to beat a curfew by a minute? And to all the num nuts here saying "Why would you want a new driver on the streets", haha so witty but if you drive remember you had to start also.

 

[robb4rock6]

very simple that cop = Douche

 

[Knusper]

I guess it was legal for him to be punished, but that is a bit much for 3 minutes, when my brother was on curfew for a crime and he always arrived a few minutes past the curfew hour, just to be annoying, and he police didn't really care, and that curfew was set for a crime, which I assume this one wasn't.

 

[ComicsAreWeird]

Cop was in the right.

Neighbor was in the wrong.

/thread

so, umm, why do you question it? He should have just left earlier. You need to be prepared for this stuff when you have such a responsibility.

It is not "fair" per se, but it is the law.

So my neighbor, who is 16, a new driver was driving home on a Friday night. He arrived in his driveway at 12:03 to find that a cop had tailed him all the way back to his house. As the curfew was midnight he was technically violating it, so the cops suspended his license until he turned 18. thats just under 2 years for 3 minutes past curfew. So i was wondering, are cops allowed to do this. And if they are, do you agree with it. Explain.

*Also, i would like to note that this isnt a hypothetical, it happened next door to me, i mean the house DIRECTLY next to mine.

It's legal, there's nothing really unethical about it either. Honestly, your neighbor should have left sooner and planned to be back with time to spare. Just because you have a reasonable expectation of getting away with your crimes doesn't excuse them when you make a slight error.

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.

I'm sorry, but this kind of thing sickens me.

This turns the law from sonething meaningful into an excuse to abuse people for trivialities, and in my opinion undermines confidence and respect for the institutions of law.

Laws as a concept exists to serve a purpose, not as an entity unto itself that should be tolerated just because.

It genuinely drives me nuts that people support these kind of things.

I fully second this opinion. Word by word.

The cop had a great opportunity to just stop the vehicle, give him a warning (way more pedagogical)and carry on patroling. He might do some actual crimefighting instead of punishing someone based on a small technicality.

Law should exist to serve people, not the other way around.

 

[Ponce Master-General]

Why is there a curfew? That's the dumbest thing ever. Also, the cop shouldn't have suspended his license for 2 years cos he was 3 minutes late.

 

[Flames66]

So As the curfew was midnight he was technically violating it

Why is there a curfew?

 

[Ledan]

Curfew???
When did any government (other than the martial law ones) enforce curfews????

 

[Mistermixmaster]

I'm gonna say that the cop was in the right for doing this. Your neighbor should have planned better and thought of coming home before said curfew.

A bit off topic perhaps, but is it really that bad for you americans to wait until you're 18? It works perfectly well here in Norway.

 

[kitsunefather]

Anyway, as proof that this affects our mentality, I'd like to point to anyone who has posted in support of the criminal here. Their perception of the law has been warped to the point where they think that breaking the law "only by a little" isn't breaking the law any more. It's sad to think their social values have decayed so much.

For my part, I think its less that he didn't break the law, and more that if this were his first offense, he should have gotten a warning, rather than two years suspended license. I'd like to know how long the officer was following him, before they reached his house.

But, the story presented at its core isn't an argument of social values. The cop was enforcing the law and doing his job, so there are no legal or ethical arguments against it. His method, however, comes off rather draconian and (again, with the information provided) seemed more interested in handing out a ticket than in actually keeping the streets crime free.

Here's the thing. If you want to argue the cop was absolutely right and the kid was just a stupid dick who stayed out to late, how did he pull into his driveway? If the officer was really enforcing the law as strict as this comes off, just to enforce the law, why didn't his lights come on at 12:01, before they got to the kid's house?

Again, a cop hands you a ticket for breaking the law, and suspends your license. Even if you were popping wheelies on the sidewalk while going 75, you have the right to fight the ticket in court. The ticket has the time and location on it, as does the officer's report. If your friend thinks the officer was being lenient, or acted inappropriately or unethically, then tell him to fight the ticket.

 

[Reaper195]

He broke the law. There is no leeway. You break it, you suffer (God that sounds cool!) the consequences. If you have to be off the road by 12, be off the road ten minutes earlier.

 

[Lexodus]

I'm gonna say that the cop was in the right for doing this. Your neighbor should have planned better and thought of coming home before said curfew.

A bit off topic perhaps, but is it really that bad for you americans to wait until you're 18? It works perfectly well here in Norway.

Firstly, not every country is the same, genius, and secondly, if he now can't drive until 18, it's a pretty simple conclusion that HE'S GOING TO BE WORSE WHEN HE'S 18 THAN HE WOULD BE. In short, the cop's a dick (and may have just created another bad driver), and tell your neighbour to get it appealed.

He broke the law. There is no leeway. You break it, you suffer (God that sounds cool!) the consequences. If you have to be off the road by 12, be off the road ten minutes earlier.

Or not, since that's 11:50, not 12.

 

[CaseySmith]

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.

This is about the point I begin to lose faith in humanity; zealous and absolute judgement, without second thought, mercy or consideration of severity.

Reminds me a lot of my introduction to programming. Lecture began something like this: "Computers are stupid. Computers won't do anything unless you tell it to. They will only do what you tell them in the specific order you gave them, and they will carry it through blindly without question."