Court-Approved Flashing
It’s a common practice among drivers who pass through a speed trap: Flash your headlights at approaching cars as a warning to slow down. Now, a federal court judge in Missouri says penalizing drivers for the headlight flash violates their First Amendment right to free speech.
U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey in St. Louis issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the St. Louis County town of Ellisville from citing and prosecuting drivers who flash their lights to warn of radar and speed traps.
”This has sweeping implications for the First Amendment,” said Jonathan Turley, a criminal attorney and a professor at George Washington University Law School. “What this citizen is doing is warning other citizens about the violation of law. People regularly warn others about the possibility of arrest. There’s no difference between a verbal warning and a mechanical warning. Both are forms of speech.”
”It is important that law enforcement officers in other jurisdictions take note of this federal court decision and the ACLU of Missouri’s commitment to free speech,” Jeffrey A. Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Missouri, said in a statement.
