You have a first amendment right to express yourself. That right is pretty encompassing. When you display a bumper sticker on your vehicle you’re expressing your first amendment right.

As long as the message on your sticker isn’t obscene (and by obscene I mean erotic with no redeemable value),it’s legal to have offensive stickers or stickers with curse words.

An offensive bumper sticker is not enough to pull you over.

A cop needs a reasonable articulable suspicion that a crime has been committed or is about to be committed.

The “crime” can be anything – moving your vehicle over the lines, following another vehicle too closely, loud brakes, etc.

So if cops want to pull you over, they can find a reason.

When you have a questionable bumper sticker, it may set off alarm bells in a cops head, and they may start looking for reasons to pull you over. And this is legal.

If a cop sees a sketchy bumper sticker, and thinks to himself “that’s sketchy,” and then follows you and observes your car committed some minor infraction like putting your blinker on too late or touching one of the highway lines, then you can be legally pulled over and it makes no difference that the cop was initially interested in you because of the legal sticker you had.

Once a cop finds a legal reason to pull you over, they will immediately be on the lookout for more information that may explain your suspicious bumper sticker. This means that you’ll be scrutinized more closely at a traffic stop.

If you’re a law abiding person and no further concerns develop to prolong the stop, then the officer will likely let you go. But if you start giving inconsistent statements, or exhibit nervousness, or if the cop sees something suspicious in your car, this will set off more alarm bells in the cops head and it may either prolong the stop further, lead to an arrest (if you’re doing something illegal), or just with in a ticket.

So which bumper stickers are bad?

Believe it or not, bumper stickers have gotten people into trouble.

Again, I want to stress that a bumper sticker alone is NOT reason to pull you over. But as a practical matter, the message on a bumper sticker has the potential to reveal inferences about you, or arouse suspicion for law enforcement.

For example, in State V. Dukes (1988), a bumper sticker that read “this car is insured by Smith and Wesson”  indicated to an officer “a strong possibility of the presence of a handgun,” because Smith and Wesson is a company that makes handguns. Coupled with the observation that the driver and passenger seemed visibly nervous and panicked, the officer investigated more. He also observed two New York license plates in the back seat of the car, which the officer said was “unusual.” – Again, it’s legal to have bumper stickers that display first amendment messages. It’s even legal to have license plates in the back seat. But coupled with the nervousness of the passengers, and unusual circumstances, the officer decided to investigate more. He ran the plates and found the driver was operating under a suspended license. He arrested the driver and found cocaine on his person. He then searched the car for a handgun, believing he’d find one because of the bumper sticker and the presence of drugs. Now, this guy seemed screwed regardless of the bumper sticker, but the point is that the officer testified the bumper sticker definitely played a role in his investigation.

In Douglas v. Arizona (2024), At a traffic stop, a cop immediately noticed an “Oklahoma State Trooper support sticker” on the truck’s back window. The sticker drew the Trooper’s attention because he “rarely sees such stickers and drug traffickers often use them to project a law-abiding image in attempting to conceal their criminal activity.”

Again, in U.S. v. Muriel (2005) , Sgt. McDonald testified that, as he approached Mr. Muriel’s car, his suspicions were aroused by certain features, such as the Illinois license plates, three police support decals affixed to the windows, a teddy bear on the dashboard and an American flag on the front of the vehicle.  In his experience, Sgt. McDonald testified, such items are used to divert attention from illicit activity.

In U.S. v. Frazier (2004), officers noticed the presence of a bible on the dashboard of a Uhaul truck, which contributed to their suspicion of drug dealing because “…they contended (a bible) is a common method drug couriers use to avoid suspicion.”

To reiterate – It’s perfectly legal to have bumper stickers. Cops can’t pull you over just because you have them. But as you’ve just read, they certainly have the potential effect of arousing suspicion in a cop. Cops have testified to this.

Bottom line

The bottom line is, as always, don’t commit crimes and drive safely. If you follow this advice you’re liklihood of being arrested goes down exponentially.

The public seems to be especially interested in unlawful arrest issues, but realistically knowing the “life hacks” that avoid police really only come in handy if you’re trying to minimize the liklihood of getting caught for criminal activity. For most of us who may one day be found guilty of minor traffic violations and nothing more, knowledge of search and seizure laws will not save your case. For example, if you get clocked at 85mph, you’re kinda screwed. Just pay the damn ticket. Most people aren’t driving around with cocaine and illegal guns in the car.

So, if you’re a law abiding citizen I’d advise you follow the road rules, and put whatever bumper stickers you want on your car. Just know that some bumper stickers might raise the eyebrows of law enforcement.

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