Jermaine D. English v. State of Florida

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida reviewed whether a hanging tag light and attached wires obstructing a vehicle’s license plate violated section 316.605(1), Florida Statutes. The court held that the statute plainly requires a license plate to remain visible and legible at all times, regardless of whether the obscuring matter is on or external to the plate. It approved the Fifth District’s decision in State v. English and disapproved the Second District’s contrary decision in Harris v. State.

Holdings

1. Section 316.605(1) does not distinguish between obscuring matter located on the license plate and obscuring matter located external to the license plate. The statute requires the plate to be plainly visible and legible at all times.
2. A tag light hanging down in front of a license plate and obscuring its alphanumeric designation constitutes a violation of section 316.605(1).
3. The officers made a proper traffic stop based on the violation of section 316.605(1), and the evidence from the stop should not have been suppressed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether section 316.605(1), Florida Statutes, requires a vehicle's license plate to remain plainly visible and legible at all times regardless of whether the obscuring matter is on the plate or external to it.
2. Whether a tag light and attached wires hanging in front of and obscuring a license plate constitute a violation of section 316.605(1) sufficient to justify a traffic stop.
3. Whether the Fifth District's interpretation of section 316.605(1) conflicted with the Second District's interpretation in Harris v. State.

Disposition

approved