On December 19, the Sixth Circuit handed down a remarkable decision in United States v. Lonnie Ray Davis. In an opinion by Judge Boyce Martin, the court struck down as unconstitutionally vague Michigan’s law that prohibits driving with dangling objects from the rear-view mirror when the object obstructs the driver’s vision.
Notably, the briefs filed in the case did not argue that the statute was unconstitutional, and the parties did not discuss the issue at oral argument. The only issue raised in the case was whether the traffic stop was based on probable cause under the Fourth Amendment. (The appellant’s brief is here, and the government’s brief is here.) When the case was handed down, however, the Sixth Circuit panel had turned it into a very different sort of case, one with quite far-reaching implications. The resulting opinion strikes me as pretty unconvincing, so I thought I would blog about it.
I. Statutory Background
Most state traffic codes have provisions prohibiting objects inside the vehicle that obstruct the driver’s vision. Some codes have provisions that are a bit more specific, and prohibit objects “suspended” from the rear view mirror or hanging on the windshield that obstruct the driver’s vision. Some prohibit objects that “materially” obstruct the driver’s vision, while others just prohibit objects that obstruct the driver’s vision.
Every code is worded differently, but these sort of traffic laws are pretty common. See, e.g., Va.Code Ann.