4th Amendment: Court Cases

In the city of Lago Vista, Gail Atwater was stopped by police for not wearing a seatbelt. According to eyewitnesses, the officer was yelling at Gail Atwater. Gail Atwater requested the officer to lower his voice and he replied, "You're going to jail." Gail was arrested, handcuffed, and put into jail for approximately one hour. She was realeased on $310.00 bond and $50.00 for not wearing a seatbelt. Gail and her husband filed suit claiming that her fourth amendment rights against unreasonable seizure had been viotlated beacause the police arrested her for a crime punishable only by fine. Since Gail had admitted that she was guilty by paying the fine, the district court dissmissed her claim of a fourth amendment violation.

My opinion on this court case was that the officer had no right to arrest Gail. I was shocked that the officer arrested Gail for a crime that was so small. I know that it's a law to put a seatbelt on but the officer should have just given her a ticket. I think that it wasn't fair to Gail because if it was a different officer, the officer would have probably just given her a ticket.