Dallas Defense Attorney Blog

According to this Dallas Morning News editorial piece, a small group of Dallas police officers have been pulling over drivers, and ticketing them for not being fluent English speakers. The confusion apparently arose from a drop-down menu item in the computerized ticketing system, which allowed for that option. The problem is, that option only applies to commercial drivers, which Dallas police officers do not typically enforce.

The author of the article states that the main problem is not that the oversight belonged to one, or even two confused officers, but to many, including those who are supposed to supervise the ticketing process. Police Chief David Kunkle has stated that he would “dismiss pending cases and investigate the officers involved.”

That said, the author brings up a good point. With the opening of the new Dallas Arts buildings, how can Dallas be taken seriously as an international travel destination if there are rumblings of racial profiling among the Police force?

What’s your take on the situation? Is it just a slight oversight, or something more serious that needs to be addressed?

According to an obscure Texas law, you could.  Originally penned in 1973, the law was written to be intentionally vague.  Lawmakers at the time did not want the law to read as if the state were imposing what parents could teach their children.  The problem is, according to Wynne Shaw, clinical supervisor at the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, the practice of showing porn to children is often times a grooming practice for pedophiles.  So the question becomes, is that something the state of Texas really wants to encourage?

Texas Lawmakers are currently pushing to have the law rewritten in the near future.

What’s your take on the situation?  Is this simply a common sense law that’s been overlooked, or is there some value to having the law live in its current form?

Original article via Dallas Morning News.