Q: Was my traffic stop in Arkansas legal based on dealer's tag?
I was stopped by local police in Arkansas because they claimed they couldn't determine the state and expiration date on my temporary dealer's tag, although it met legal standards and was not obstructed. After pulling me over, they claimed to smell marijuana, searched my car, found about 2 grams, and charged me with possession. The incident happened at the end of February, and I've never been charged with anything before. They maneuvered their vehicle before stopping me. Was there reasonable suspicion for the stop, as in would a reasonable person suspect a crime was occurring, had occurred, or was about to occur?
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A:
You don’t need to fear prosecution for something that was legal at the time you did it. In the United States, the Constitution protects people from being charged for actions that were not crimes when they occurred. This protection is known as the **ex post facto** clause, and it means states cannot pass new laws and use them to punish people retroactively.
Even in states like Indiana, Kentucky, or Tennessee, where abortion laws have become much stricter, any new rules or definitions—like classifying abortion as homicide—cannot be applied to past actions. If a woman received an abortion or a provider performed one during the time when Roe v. Wade protected those rights, the law recognized that action as legal. The fact that there may be no statute of limitations for homicide doesn’t change that, because the key question is whether it was a crime at the time it happened.
Laws may change, and political climates may shift, but the foundation of justice includes protecting people from retroactive punishment. You are not expected to follow laws that didn’t exist at the time of your actions. If someone is trying to use fear or confusion around this issue, it’s okay to step back and remember that the legal system still requires fairness. No one can be prosecuted for doing something that was lawful when they did it.
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