To Err Is Human, And To Blame It On A License Plate Computer Is Even More So — Robert Orben.

Plaintiff was driving along and police made a “high risk” stop. They held her at gunpoint, handcuffed her, forced her to her knees and detained her for 20 minutes. Turns out, the Automatic License Plate Reader [ALPR] made a mistake, and identified her car as a stolen vehicle. Eventually the police ran a check of her license plate and discovered the mistake. She brought a civil rights action, and the federal trial judge granted summary judgment in favor of the city, county, police department and individual officers. The Ninth Circuit said a rational jury could conclude there was a Fourth Amendment violation, and reversed. (Green v. San Francisco  (Ninth Cir.; May 12, 2014) 751 F.3d 1039.)