The right to travel in Pennsylvania free from police interference has vanished, thanks to progressive Soros-backed District Attorney Larry Krasner. A recent appeals court ruling makes most, if not all, drivers in the commonwealth subject to being pulled over at any time; the negative effects of the decision are hard to overstate. Liberty Nation spoke exclusively with Philip Steinberg – an attorney whose client lost a battle but plans to win the war at the state’s Supreme Court.
Derrick Ruffin was pulled over in Philadelphia in April of 2021 for having an obscured license plate. Officers searched the car, found a firearm and marijuana, and charged Mr. Ruffin with associated crimes. Nothing remarkable so far in a story played out in urban America every day. However, Ruffin’s license plate was in a frame that in no way obstructed the letters or numbers on the plate; police identified that relevant information with ease. The only obstruction was to the state’s tourism web address, visitPA.com.
The Progressive Power of a Soros-Backed DA
When Ruffin’s case proceeded toward trial, the court tossed the stop and the evidence police obtained with it. The ruling said there was “no reasonable suspicion or probable cause to pull over [the vehicle] because of the obscured website.” District Attorney Krasner appealed – and the Pennsylvania Superior Court overturned the trial court. According to the appellate ruling, the relevant statute – part of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code – is without ambiguity and any obstruction is a violation even if it doesn’t impede registration identification or any view of the numbers or letters on the identifying part of the plate.
Shortly after the Superior Court’s ruling, Ruffin’s attorney Philip Steinberg spoke with Liberty Nation about the Soros-backed DA and what this case means for Pennsylvania drivers. Mr. Steinberg says Krasner is responsible for:
“[A] case that now, more than any other traffic law I’ve ever seen, gives law enforcement the discretion to stop anybody. This ruling never comes down if the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office didn’t appeal a run-of-the-mill decision on a car stop where the trial court judge made the correct decision.”
Larry Krasner (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
The relevant section of the law prohibits driving with a plate that is “otherwise illegible at a reasonable distance or is obscured in any manner” (emphasis added). Mr. Steinberg was chagrined by the ruling, the DA’s pursuit of the matter, and how Pennsylvania drivers may affix their plates in accordance with the law. LN asked the defense attorney whether, if the courts really are willing to allow such enforcement, simple screws used without a frame wouldn’t also meet the definition of obstruction? He struggled to see how they, too, aren’t now prohibited by the statute. Double-sided tape was one possible solution we discussed, bemused.
Steinberg is presently readying Mr. Ruffin’s appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and beyond, if necessary. The Philadelphia district attorney’s office and the Pennsylvania ACLU never returned requests for comments about the case.
