Williams v. State (May 13th, 2020); License Plate frames DO NOT obscure tag to justify traffic stop

The police can legally justify stopping a vehicle if there is any objective violation of a Florida Traffic law.  There is a Florida Statute, section 316.605 that says that a license plate shall not be obscured and must be visible and legible at all time 100 feet from the rear or front.  Police some times have no real reason to pull over a vehicle so they use this statute to pull over vehicles who have a license plate frame.  They justified this as legal because the frame covered "MyFlorida.com" or "Sunshine State" and thus was obscured.  The courts have now rejected this saying it is absurd.  These collateral things on a license plate are not unique and are so small as to not be visible from 100 feet anyway.  So, this game is done.  However, it still applies if the unique numbers/letters are not visible.  There is a case where a trailor hitch was in front of a tag and the court said the stop was ok.  In fact, anyone towing anything would probable have an obscured tag.  So, please do not have anything in your vehicle you wouldnt want the police to find if you are towing something or have anything other than a plate frame covering your tag.  Williams v. State, 4th DCA Opinion May 13th, 2020.  No. 4D19-1578.