Ohio lawmaker proposes relaxing law on two license plates on Ohio vehicles

Staff report

COLUMBUS

A Democratic state lawmaker wants to make the failure to display a front license plate on vehicles a secondary offense.

Sen. Cecil Thomas, a Democrat from Cincinnati, told the Ohio Senate’s Transportation, Commerce and Labor Committee this week the proposal would require additional traffic offenses for officers to stop drivers.

“Unfortunately, some officers in the urban core are selective in their enforcement of the license-plate requirement,” Thomas said. “Some engage in profiling by using such minor equipment violations as a pretext for other investigatory stops in violation of the search and seizure rules of the U.S. Constitution.”

SB 202 had its first hearing this week. It would have to be moved by lawmakers in coming days or be reintroduced in the next general assembly for further consideration.

The bill is named the “DuBose Was A Beacon Act,” after Samuel DuBose, a black man who was shot by a white University of Cincinnati police officer in July 2015 during a traffic stop prompted by a missing front license plate. Ray Tensing has been charged with murder in the case.

SB 202 would prevent officers from stopping drivers solely for a failure to display a front license plate, making the offense a secondary infraction, similar to the law requiring seat-belt usage.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com