Bill proposed to BAN radar detectors in Florida

[Rich Z]

Just caught wind of this bill....

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sectio...x?BillId=36144

Speed-measuring Devices: prohibits use of devices that detect or interfere with speed-measuring devices used by law enforcement agencies; provides that enforcement must be secondary; provides penalties. Creates 316.1907.

If you should want to contact the sponsor of this bill (Senator Steve Oelrich), you can do so from here -> http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/...t_Num_Link=014

If you want to view the full text of the bill in .PDF format, here it is....

[ynkedad]

For a device that some claim doesn't work, is a waste of $$ and or isn't effective, it sure seems like someone believes there's reason enough to outlaw them.
I know...Maybe the Govt. doesn't want us throwing our Hard earned $$ away on wasteful things.?

If it comes to pass, i'll just have to hide mine.

~Ray

[VertC5]

Won't really matter soon as LASER replaces RADAR.

Roy

[thebeepster]

Originally Posted by ynkedad

For a device that some claim doesn't work, is a waste of $$ and or isn't effective, it sure seems like someone believes there's reason enough to outlaw them.
I know...Maybe the Govt. doesn't want us throwing our Hard earned $$ away on wasteful things.?

If it comes to pass, i'll just have to hide mine.

~Ray

It's just part of a VAST RIGHT WING CONSPIRICY!

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by VertC5

Won't really matter soon as LASER replaces RADAR.

Roy

Laser will likely never replace radar for a wide variety of reasons. Cost, effectiveness, ease of operation, mobility, et al.

Besides, there are several very good LASER detectors on the market as well.

[88vert]

I know my detector has saved my bacon on more than one occasion !!

[88vert]

I got stopped Suday for speeding, my detector never went off.. The trooper told me that this bill was in the house and going to the senate and they werepretty sure it was gonig to pass.I have 2 radar detector,this was the older one. I don't know if my newer one will pick up the Laser or not? The cops stand off in the woods with this hand held unit.You don't see them till itsm to late.

[ynkedad]

hasn't failed me yet . Whether they're around a corner, on the other side of a hill, in the woods or bushes, in front or behind me.

Today we went into Leesburg and my Val1 was indicating 2 bogies in front of me . Sure enough, there was a motorcycle cop giving someone a ticket, but I couldn't see where the other one was. Once we got to the top of the hill, my wife pointed him out for me. He was hiding off the side of the road in a ditch, on the other side of the hill .
Once again...my bacon was saved!

Me...I'm going to keep my Val1 if the bill passes. I'll just relocate it (take it off the windshield) so it's NOT visible.

Anyone else keeping theirs?

~Ray

[vett boy]

I'll keep mine ,but well hidden.

What ever happened to the good old days when they had to clock ya.

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by ynkedad

Me...I'm going to keep my Val1 if the bill passes. I'll just relocate it (take it off the windshield) so it's NOT visible.

Anyone else keeping theirs?

~Ray

This poses an interesting question. According to the US Constitution, the federal government cannot pass an ex post facto law.

An ex post facto law (from the Latin for "from something done afterward") or retroactive law, is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of acts committed or the legal status of facts and relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. In reference to criminal law, it may criminalize actions that were legal when committed; or to aggravate a crime by bringing it into a more severe category than it was at the time it was committed; or to change or increase the punishment prescribed for a crime, such as by adding new penalties or extending terms; or to alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime more likely than it would have been at the time of the action for which a defendant is prosecuted. Conversely, an ex post facto law may decriminalize certain acts or alleviate possible punishments (for example by replacing the death sentence with life-long imprisonment) retroactively.

A law may have an ex post facto effect without being technically ex post facto. For example, when a law repeals a previous law, the repealed legislation no longer applies to the situations it once did, even if such situations arose before the law was repealed. The principle of prohibiting the continued application of these kinds of laws is also known as Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali.

Generally speaking, ex post facto laws are seen as a violation of the rule of law as it applies in a free and democratic society. Most common law jurisdictions do not permit retroactive legislation, though some have suggested that judge-made 'law' is retroactive as a new precedent applies to events that occurred prior to the judicial decision. In some nations that follow the Westminster system of government, such as the United Kingdom, ex post facto laws are technically possible as parliamentary supremacy allows the parliament to pass any law it wishes. However, in a nation with an entrenched bill of rights or a written constitution, ex post facto legislation may be prohibited.

Ex post facto is the uncomplimentary characterization of law and legislation that applies retroactively (i.e. "from a thing done afterward").

"The sentiment that ex post facto laws are against natural right, is so strong in the United States, that few, if any, of the State constitutions have failed to proscribe them. The federal constitution indeed interdicts them in criminal cases only; but they are equally unjust in civil as in criminal cases, and the omission of a caution which would have been right, does not justify the doing what is wrong. Nor ought it to be presumed that the legislature meant to use a phrase in an unjustifiable sense, if by rules of construction it can be ever strained to what is just." (Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Isaac McPherson, August 13th, 1813)

As for the state of Florida being restricted against creating it's own ex post facto laws, I'm not sure of......

But if so, then if the Florida legislature passes such a law, that law outlawing something you already possess is blatantly ex post facto. Quite possibly those already in possession of Florida residents would have to be grandfathered in.