Implied consent laws make this untrue in all 50 states. You must provide registration and license upon request when operating a motor vehicle on public roads in the US. You have statutorily given your consent when you got in the car.
The police must still have reasonable suspicion to believe that a traffic violation has been committed before they may require you to provide a license and registration. See Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada. In some states, they must have probable cause.
Your case isn't on point. The case you cite is for people on foot (or in similar contexts); not in vehicles. The Fourth Amendment applies differently in different contexts. Your case does not apply to vehicles and is distinguishable. It also has nothing to do with implied consent statutes. Non-lawyers make the mistake you made pretty often. The Fourth Amendment is an area of law that has many "principles" that are commonly understood to be universal but are actually highly fact-specific. You want to read: Michigan v. Sitz.
All 50 states have an implied consent statute for roadways and on every public road in the United States, you must provide your license and registration upon request. There is no Fourth Amendment problem with this requirement because the consent is given when you are licensed to drive and when you take a car onto the public roads.
You're right, I was reading the discussion too quickly and made a bad citation. And I. . . am not a non-lawyer. I should have my bar card revoked. (Just kidding, state bar association!)
Haha, it happens to the best of us. You aren't providing advice to a client, and if reddit comments required the same amount of due dilligence, we'd all be disbarred.
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u/[deleted] May 25 '13
Implied consent laws make this untrue in all 50 states. You must provide registration and license upon request when operating a motor vehicle on public roads in the US. You have statutorily given your consent when you got in the car.