Legal Question in Traffic Law in Wisconsin

Yes, since your plates are meant to publically display the identity of the vehicle owner for law enforcement purposes (that is why you bought them), you have no expectation of privacy as to your plate numbers meaning that law enforcement can and does routinely "run your plates" without probable cause. Technology now allows this on a massive scale, via high speed robotic optical scanning technology employed on many roads these days. The computers monitoring this system will automatically flag law enforcement when, for example, any vehicle with expired plates is driving down the interstate, alerting them to pull it over if they are in the area. This is not to say that "anything goes" after such a stop, however. The 4th amendment of the constitution limits detentions in such a circumstance under a reasonableness standard in order to accomplish the purpose of the initial investigative stop, i.e. to write up the ticket for expired plates and let you go, unless the stop also yields probable cause of other illegal activities such as alcohol on your breath or the smell of pot burning, or unless the officer legitimately feels that his safety is threatened, allowing a brief safety frisk of the vehicle and its occupants. Detentions exceeding what is reasonable under the circumstances can form the basis for a motion to suppress evidence which may have been illegally recovered. Please do not assume that I am your attorney because of my response here, but feel free to call my office in Racine (262-633-3090 or email [email protected]) for clarifications regarding my answer. Otherwise, under the rules of this website, I would not be taking any further action on your case. See me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. View my past answers at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html?sort=recency , or see an even larger collection of responses at http://www.lawguru.com/answers/search/attorney/jknixon, . Answers may contain attorney advertising materials.