Jury: License-Plate-Reader Alert Alone Doesn't Justify a Traffic Stop

A federal jury in San Antonio found Bexar County liable for violating the Fourth Amendment and awarded Texas driver Alek Schott $76 — one dollar per minute of his 76-minute detention in March 2022. Jurors ruled that a surveillance alert from a license-plate-reader network is not by itself legal grounds for a stop. The Institute for Justice plans to seek a countywide injunction against similar stops.

• Jury awarded Schott $76, one dollar per minute of his 76-minute detention
• Bexar County held liable at a policy or custom level, not just a deputy's mistake
• Institute for Justice says the practice ran about four years and hit thousands of drivers
• Plaintiff seeks an injunction from Judge Orlando Garcia against unsupported stops countywide