Is a new Ohio law requiring passengers to provide their ID during traffic stops Constitutional? Professor Dave has the anwer

In this episode of Legally Speaking on WFMJ Today David Betras, BK Managing Shareholder and Dean of the firm’s shade tree law school discusses a new Ohio law that requires passengers to produce their IDs and divulge personal information under certain circumstances during traffic stops.

Is the law Constitutional?

Professor Dave offers his opinion along with a reminder that the side of the road is not the ideal place to argue Constitutional questions with a cop who has a gun and badge…

Here is David’s discussion with host Steve Vescey:

Earlier this week Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 492. That law

penalizes drivers who don’t share their information with an officer when they get pulled over. It

also forces passengers to give their name, address, and date of birth if an officer asks during a

traffic stop. So could there potentially be a legal battle brewing over this? Attorney Dave

Beatrice is here for Legally Speaking.

So, people should think of it this way. A police officer can only pull you over if they have a reasonable, articulable suspicion that you committed a traffic offense. They can’t pull you over willy-nilly. They msut be able to articulate a reasonable rationale for the stop. That said, I don’t know why that first part of the law is there. They were alwaysallowed to ask for your driver’s license, and if you didn’t give it, they could ask you to get out of the car.

What the police weren’t able to do before was to ask passengers for their driver’s license and other information.

Now, constitutionally, on its face, this statute will pass muster.

But will it stand up hen it’s actually litigated in court? My answer is probably yes.

So, what the legislature said was, if a law enforcement officer can articulate a reasonable, suspicion that the passenger was violating a motor vehicle law, like not wearing a seatbelt,

they can ask for their ID. If the passenger refuses to hand it over, it can lead to other offenses.

And that was the first thing that I was kind of curious about. You pull the driver over because they did something wrong but the passenger or passengers are just sitting there. So how do you even get to that next level? Do they have to see something? They must have a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the passenger did something that would warrant asking for their ID.

Now, I’m telling you, most of the time it’s going to be, oh, you don’t have your seatbelt on. Can I see your D? But deep down, I think this was done so ICE can identify other people in the car. That said, the officer would still need to prove to a judge that they had just cause for asking for the ID.

The legislature said that part of the driving force behind this was the rise in the number of

people who got pulled over and then would refuse to show their ID, claiming some sovereign rule or something like that.

I don’t want to say what I think.

These sovereign citizens, here’s what they do. They look at the police officer, and say I’m not giving you my license because I’m traveling, not driving. What does that mean? That means nothing. Okay, so if they don’t hand over their license, they’re obstructing justice. If they don’t get out of the car, the cops can smash the window.

Look, if you get pulled over by a police officer and you want to play Mr. Lawyer on the side of the road with a person who has a gun, a badge, and the power to arrest you, you are going to lose that fight 100 times out of 100 times.

That’s why I tell people, hand over your driver’s license, registration, insurance card, if they ask you to get out, get out of the car. That never used to apply to the passenger, but you’ll see the police officers come up and they’ll ask the passenger to roll down the window and they’ll ask the passenger, can I see your ID? And the passenger’s like, sure, here you go. Now they’re saying, if they can articulate some kind of traffic offense or something else, now they can ask the passenger for their ID.

It will be interesting to see how the law evolves once it is applied in the real world.

And with that, class is dismissed