'Know why I pulled you over?' Fortunately, California police can't ask you that anymore

gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 457 points –
Opinion: 'Know why I pulled you over?' Fortunately, California police can't ask you that anymore
latimes.com
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IANAL and it's best to know and understand the laws of the state that you're in. But in general you're under no obligation to answer any questions a cop has for you and you're not being rude or difficult by simply saying nothing at all. If a cop actually wants to help you they can do so by promptly giving you a citation and letting you go on about your day, not by trying to pry on your personal opinions or activities.

terry stop

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_stop

yes you are under obligation to answer any questions for whatever reason no matter the state

and to further exacerbate the situation states are now doing their own thing more than ever and Biden is failing on the campaign promise for police reform

yes you are under obligation to answer any questions for whatever reason no matter the state

You need to have brain damage to believe this is true. Police can detain you for whatever reason they might have, and refusing to answer them might cause them to place you under arrest, but you are not obligated to answer questions while you are under detention or arrest.

get pulled over in the wrong state and see if your statement still holds water

What are they gonna do? Use their psychic piggy powers to force me to talk? lmao.

No court in any state in this country would ever convict someone solely for exercising their right to not incriminate themselves. Abusive cops exist, sure, but that doesn't make them right.

I really don't get where you're basing this on, what law compels you to waive your right to be silent? I'll yield that a cop will treat you like shit if you stonewall them but there's no way they can make you incriminate yourself.

Sorry, that's arguably some bad advice. The most well known counterpoint is there in your Miranda Rights: you have the right to remain silent. That right exists under the 5th as the other comment mentions.

This applies to a traffic stop for most everything but name, address, and the required documents (insurance, driver's license). As to whether you have to sign a ticket, I can't say.

And of course this video is gold, watch it yearly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE

I briefly skimmed over that page you linked so apologies if I missed something, but I didn't see anything in there that implied you are under any obligation to answer questions from an officer. The officer has the right to detain you and in most cases you must comply with an officer's orders, for example to step out of the vehicle, submit to a search, etc.

However, the 5th amendment of the US Constitution protects citizens from being compelled to offer self-incriminating information. In other words, the officer cannot order you to answer a question.

Again, IANAL and this is not legal advice.