Interview: Steven Silverman of Flex Your Rights

By Phillip Smith, DRCNet. Posted June 25, 2002.

In this nation's Hundred Years' War against some drugs, the collateral damage has included the millions of American citizens and residents who have suffered arrest at the hands of law enforcement agents enforcing the drug laws. The United States Constitution offers protections to citizens that could prevent that encounter with police from turning into an arrest, but, sadly, too many Americans have no idea of how to effectively use their hard-won rights to protect them from overzealous policing. Below, DRCNet interviews Steven Silverman, the head of a newly formed group, Flex Your Rights (www.FlexYourRights.org), designed to teach Americans how to protect themselves by flexing their constitutional rights.

DRCNet: What is Flex Your Rights and what does it hope to accomplish?

Steven Silverman: Flex Your Rights is a nonprofit educational organization. Our mission is to train individuals to protect their civil liberties, specifically during police encounters. We use creative, interactive teaching methods, a hands-on, real world understanding of how the Bill of Rights applies to real life police encounters. We want to help people understand their constitutional rights. This project has become more urgent as those rights have been eroded over the decades. Decisions by the Supreme Court have expanded the scope of police powers, particularly search and seizure, for the purpose of fighting illegal drugs. This "drug exception" to the Constitution has included various tactics, including, notably racial profiling, where drivers are targeted on the basis of their race and searched for contraband. It is important that we recognize that part of the problem is many civil rights violations by police officers occur because people naively waive the rights they still have. Part of the solution is to train people how to assert their remaining constitutional rights. Those are still our best protection during encounters with the police.

We believe no one should have to undergo the humiliation, inconvenience and embarrassment of an illegal search. Interestingly enough, there were about 19.3 million traffic stops in 1999. Most encounters that people have with law officers are traffic stops. Police conducted 1.3 million searches of motorists that year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and about 90% of those searches resulted in no evidence of a crime. Most people who are searched are not guilty of anything. They should never have consented to a search.

DRCNet: If someone is not doing anything illegal, why shouldn't they let the police search them?

Silverman: Because you don't have to. People assume that if they deny a police request to search them, that is somehow an admission of guilt and that it will get them into more trouble than its worth. But you should remember that the only reason an officer is asking your permission to search you or your vehicle is that he doesn't yet have any legal reason to do so without your consent. By consenting to an unwarranted search, you are giving up one of the most important constitutional rights you have: the Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures.

DRCNet: What are the most important things people need to know about how to behave during a police encounter?

Silverman: This is common sense stuff. First, avoid doing illegal things. Keep your car in legal working order, make sure your registration is up-to-date, your tail lights are working, things like that. Obey the speed limit. The police usually pull someone over for an alleged traffic violation, and they will use any pretext to stop you. Also, you should keep your private items out of view. Police do not need a search warrant to confiscate any illegal items that are within plain view and arrest their owners.

If you do get pulled over, turn off the car, turn on the dome light and keep your hands in view. Officers want to see your hands for their own safety. Be courteous. The first thing you should say is, "Good evening officer. Can you tell me why I am being pulled over?" Take the initiative here: You want to be the one asking questions. Show your license and registration if requested and step out of the car if ordered to do so. Above all, remain calm and quiet. If you get a ticket, just accept it quietly. That's what traffic stops are supposed to be about.

There are signals to look for to indicate whether the encounter is moving beyond a mere traffic stop. Any question not related to the traffic offense should be considered a red flag. The officer may ask you inappropriate questions about where you've been or where you're going. This can make you uncomfortable, but this is when you need to be ready to assert your rights. You want to respond to such improper questions with your own question. The most important question to ask is, "Officer, I have to be on my way. Am I free to go?" If he says anything but no, then assume you are free to go, but repeat the question anyway and prepare to leave -- driving away safely.

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