In an unusual and unexpected ruling, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down a Michigan law that forbids having a “dangling ornament or other suspended object that obstructs the vision of the driver of the vehicle.”
The case began when a man named Lonnie Ray Davis was pulled over by the police for having a Tweety Bird ornament hanging from his rear-view mirror. He was then arrested for driving without a license, and a search of the car subsequent to that arrest found open alcohol, 24 grams of crack cocaine, a large amount of cash and both a stun gun and a .38 caliber handgun.
Davis filed a motion to have the evidence suppressed because there was no probable cause for the traffic stop, arguing that there was no reason to believe the ornament was obstructing his vision. A district court ruled against him, but now the appeals court has overturned that ruling and declared the Michigan law to be unconstitutionally vague.
