contrary to popular belief courts across the country have held that flashing headlights to warn other drivers or Travelers of speed traps ahead is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment and therefore cannot be the sole basis for police to pull over a driver or traveler the First Amendment to the United States Constitution enumerates five of our most basic rights including the freedom of speech speech may be either written or spoken words as well as expressive conduct Lake Mary Florida resident Ryan kintner inadvertently brought national attention to a common issue that many drivers or Travelers have faced over the years in August of 2012 he was at home when he noticed a police officer with a radar gun near his house so he decided to help out unsuspecting motorists by parking further up the street from the officer and flashing his headlights at oncoming traffic to warn drivers the police officer ticked off that his quota was being jeopardized drove over to where kintner was warning Travelers and gave him a ticket citing a law that prohibits the flashing of aftermarket emergency lights kittner was ticketed by a Seminole County Deputy for violating a state traffic law defining the appropriate use of car headlights the deputy told kintner that he violated the law by flashing his headlights to warn other drivers of a speed trap ahead rather than simply go into court and paying the fine kintner decided to fight the unjust law by suing the Seminole County Sheriff's Office Circuit Judge Alan Dickey ruled that Not only was there no violation of state law but kittner was also protected by his First Amendment right to free speech as judge Dickey explained quote if the goal of the traffic law is to promote safety and not raise revenue then why wouldn't we want everyone who sees a law enforcement officer with a radar gun in his hand blinking his lights to slow down all those other cars and if you think about it it really makes sense if the cops sole reason for issuing tickets was to get everybody to slow down and make the streets safer then flashing your lights helps him accomplish his purpose of promoting safety unless he's out there for another reason more recently in April of 2014 an Oregon judge dismissed a citation issued to Chris Hall a truck driver who flashed his headlights to warn a fellow driver of nearby law enforcement acting as his own attorney Hill raised the Free Speech argument Jackson County Justice Court Judge Joseph Carter agreed that the citation was quote clearly given to punish Hill for his expression he stated that while the government should enforce traffic laws to ensure the safety of the public it cannot do so simply to quote punish drivers for their expressive conduct Hill based his argument on a 2014 case that was decided in the U.S District Court for the eastern district of Missouri in November of 2012 Michael Eli was cited by an Ellisville police officer for flashing his headlights to warn other drivers of a radar trap an offense for which he could have faced a one thousand dollar fine although the city dropped the charges the American civil liberties Union filed suit to stop the practice in an eight-page opinion judge Henry e Autry ruled that drivers or non-commercial Travelers have a First Amendment right to flash their headlights to warn other Travelers of nearby police or speed traps ACLU attorney Tony rothert compared this example of expressive conduct to a person at a gas station telling someone hey be careful over there there's a speed trap such a statement is protected speech and is not punishable flashing headlights is no different you can't turn a constitutionally protected right into a crime especially not a ticketable offense for a traffic violation as stated by the U.S Supreme Court in Spence versus Washington where there is intent to convey a quote particularized message that recipients are likely to understand the speech is protected it states quote the loss of First Amendment freedoms for even minimal periods of time unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury similar to the recording of law enforcement officers in their official capacity unless there's an illegal interference with police investigations or an immediate danger to Public Safety health or welfare a person flashing his or her headline lights does not violate any state laws and actually serves to stimulate the growth of rights as their exercise to the benefit of all against the state's profiting through piracy apparatus if you like these short videos let me know in the comments section also leave your thoughts it really helps me combat the algorithm if you like this video stick around maybe you'll like some of my others check out the most popular video section there's definitely a couple of videos in there you'll want to see leave your thoughts about this for the world and the global thought police in the comments section below if you haven't done so already subscribe to this channel hit the Bell notification icon give it a thumbs up share it with everybody know don't forget to subscribe to my private email list through my website highimpactflicks.com if you want to support the channel further the links are in the description and you can buy hard-hitting conversation starting design that you can put on any shirt hoodie mug cell phone case whatever you want I'll see you in the next video [Music]