I have no idea about the Federal legalities of it, but as for the state side… it is definitely considered illegal in Texas to have a laser jammer, bender, scrambler…whatever.
Not sure how you would go about fighting it if it is indeed covered by Federal law, but I can’t imagine it is an easy or cheap battle.
Also I have been told that LEO’s don’t NEED the speed gun to issue a citation. They just use that as confirmation. They can issue a speeding citation based on traffic flow and comparative or perceived speed.
Paraphrased from 46.2-1079:
§ 46.2-1079. Radar detectors; demerit points not to be awarded.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle on the highways of the Commonwealth when such vehicle is equipped with any device or mechanism, passive or active, to detect or purposefully interfere with or diminish the measurement capabilities of any radar, laser, or other device or mechanism employed by law-enforcement personnel to measure the speed of motor vehicles on the highways of the Commonwealth for law-enforcement purposes. It shall be unlawful to use any such device or mechanism on any such motor vehicle on the highways. It shall be unlawful to sell any such device or mechanism in the Commonwealth. However, provisions of this section shall not apply to any receiver of radio waves utilized for lawful purposes to receive any signal from a frequency lawfully licensed by any state or federal agency.
B. A person shall not be guilty of a violation of this section when the device or mechanism in question, at the time of the alleged offense, had no power source and was not readily accessible for use by the driver or any passenger in the vehicle.
C. This section shall not apply to motor vehicles owned by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and used by law-enforcement officers in their official duties, nor to the sale of any such device or mechanism to law-enforcement agencies for use in their official duties.
D. No demerit points shall be awarded by the Commissioner for violations of this section. Any demerit points awarded by the Commissioner prior to July 1, 1992, for any violation of this section shall be rescinded and the driving record of any person awarded demerit points for a violation of this section shall be amended to reflect such rescission.
In short, you can be in possession or a federally approved detection or “jammer” but cannot be used within the commonwealth of VA. The code is pretty black and white.
…that is a bit more lenient stance than TX has. Here you “may not use, attempt to use, install, operate, or attempt to operate a radar interference device” and if you do it is a Clas C Misdemeanor.
All you really need is a good detector. I have yet to receive any tickets since installing mine 4 years ago. The trick is not to speed when roads are completely vacant, a few targets in front or behind for the cops to hit so the radar goes off. Also never speed in known speed trap zones…just common sense shit
I suppose if you have the jammer / bender then you may get away speeding when there are no other targets on the road…
Don’t know about the states but this is true in Ontario. The cops don’t need a single bit of proof. They can hand you a speeding ticket even if you’re going under the speed limit. It ends up being their word against yours and the judge will always side with the cop. In Ontario, cops have way too much power IMHO.
+1
Love the RS7 in white. Fantastic car.
No entirely true. You have every right to contest it in court and request disclosure. Chances are not great but I have argued in court that the cop actually picked up someone in the opposite direction with their radar (based on the cops location, etc) - I won. I know this is not so relevant with laser, since it’s pretty hard to miss the target.
Still, I don’t think a cop would be willing to put his reputation with the court on the line, just to stick you with a ticket… a lot of people have vid cams these days and if you were able to prove in court that the cop lied, that cop would be facing contempt and internal discipline…
I’m hurt. This explains why I only saw bits and pieces of you at h2o a few years back at our condo on 68th and completely explains the lack of BanananaMan appearences.
;D
Yeah, in this day and age, I guess it’s easier with video cameras and GPS showing your speed. Those tools weren’t available until recently.
I have threatened to prove that a cop is an alcoholic in open court. They dropped the case as fast as possible when I offered to bring up a bartender that the cop liked. Otherwise the cop was going to face the fines and consequences for lying in court. That is the only time that a cop’s reputation was dragged enough into question that the judge did not automatically believe what they were saying. To be honest, the amount of time that it took to dig up that information was not worth the reward other than just on principle.
States can pass laws all they want, but it doesn’t mean they are legal.
See: marijuana, Washington state
Of course no one is going to escalate a case involving a laser jammer to federal court, but in theory you would have a good chance at winning.
notarmed,
I agree, state laws may not hold up, but who has the time to spend fighting it? My opinion is that most would just pay the fine because their time is worth more than being " fcc compliant" with federal regs.
About weed… not a black and white issue. It’s been interesting in California. A customer of mine was busted with a bunch of plants in his home. I asked him if he was going to be ok with the law and he starting to tell me about how his whatever amendment rights were violated and he had a “permit” to grow. He claimed he would get everything back.
then this happened:
https://www.google.com/#q=david+randolph+novato+center+fairy
I don’t know if it was going to cost him too much to fight it, or if he had another attorney give a more realistic answer but he no longer grows weed. he made a deal with the county prosecutor to drop the case if he changed his line of work.
If you read the articles, it’s kinda funny even though they cut his face with a bong, but shows you that once an address is known for having drugs or money, it’s a target.
I’m sorry, what?
State Laws are governed AND enforced by state officials. If you break them, you break the state law and thereby are subject to the state punishment. In general, Federal laws are generally blanket state laws. The difference is state law is mostly geared towards the individual responsibility whereas Federal laws towards individual rights; meaning state law usually supercedes federal law unless your rights are being infringed.
Example:
Federal law says THC is an illegal drug therefore possession is illegal but state law allows use per medicinal and controlled-RESPONSIBLE use. If you are selling/distributing/cultivating for reasons other than medicinal, states or federal enforcement have every right to bust in and shut it down
There is no federal law stating you have to wear a seatbelt but there is state law that says you do; just because there is no federal law doesn’t mean you don’t have to abide to state rules.
TL;DR:
State over Federal with exception to basic rights/due process.
Sorry, but you have this backwards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supremacy_Clause
P.S. There is a federal seat belt law (circa 1968)
Right. Supremacy Clause of US Constitution controls here. The marijuana laws in Colorado and Washington (while certainly good policy) conflict with federal law and are therefore illegal under federal law. The feds, however, have decided not to use their prosecutorial discretion to go after these laws (at least under this administration). If and when they do, it’s bye-bye to weed legalization in those states.
No, I believe I am correct in regards to the average state law superceding federal law…
“However, the scope of federal preemption is limited because the scope of federal power is not universal. In the dual-sovereign system of American federalism, states are the plenary sovereigns, while the federal sovereign possesses only the limited supreme authority enumerated in the Constitution. Indeed, states may grant their citizens broader rights than the federal Constitution as long as they do not infringe on any federal constitutional rights. Thus, most U.S. law (especially the actual “living law” of contract, tort, property, criminal, and family law experienced by the majority of citizens on a day-to-day basis) consists primarily of state law, which can and does vary greatly from one state to the next.”
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_United_States
I will concede on the federal seat belt law; I seriously thought that was a state law.
A state cannot pass a law saying slavery is now legal. Wikipedia is also a bad way to reference a point, but I am busy watching the Seahawks go to the playoffs. 
Hehe, fair enough. I’m watching the Bears/Pack game, rooting for Discount Double Check. I’m just gonna say reference my argument on individual responsibility vs individual rights in regards to State/Fedwral.
PS:
Fuck Russell Wilson! He won’t pass to Zach Miller so I can take the lead in my championship game!
Fantasy Football?
Isn’t that the male equivalent of playing with dolls?