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Atwater v. City of Lago Vista | 532 U.S. 318 (2001)

Whenever you get pulled over by a police officer for a traffic violation, you always hope the officer will let you off with just a warning. Gail Atwater surely had that hope when Officer Bart Turek pulled her vehicle over one afternoon for a seatbelt violation. But rather than getting off with a warning, Atwater was arrested and ended up in jail. In Atwater versus City of Lago Vista, the United States Supreme Court addressed whether the officer violated the Fourth Amendment by arresting Atwater rather than issuing a citation.

Atwater and her two small children were driving in her pickup truck. All three rode in the front seat and none had on seatbelts. Officer Turek, a patrol officer with a municipal police department, noticed that Atwater and her children weren’t wearing seatbelts. Turek pulled her truck over. He approached the truck, loudly berated Atwater for failing to put seatbelts on her children, and announced his intention to arrest her. Turek’s department’s policy gave officers discretion whether to issue a citation or arrest a driver for a fine-only traffic violation. Turek handcuffed Atwater with her arms behind her back and placed her in the back of his patrol car. A family friend came to the scene and took the children. Atwater was booked into the local jail and remained there for an hour before being released on bond.

Atwater pleaded no contest to a seatbelt violation and paid a $50 fine. She and her husband, on behalf of her two children, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Turek, the police chief, and the city, alleging that her arrest and the policy on which it was based violated the Fourth Amendment. The federal district court dismissed the lawsuit, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, affirmed the judgment of the district court. Atwater successfully petitioned the United States Supreme Court to review her case.

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