An Unobstructed View

When a petty law is frequently violated and overlooked, law enforcement officers can use it as a tool to confront a citizen who would be otherwise entirely innocent. Often other underlying suspicions motivate investigation of citizens, and these laws are simply used as a pretense. Sometimes these suspicions have merit, but it seems like officers too often use these enforcements as a basis to act out their own prejudices.

If an arbitrarily-enforced law has fundamental merit, then the enforcement is the problem. As much as I shudder at the thought, it sounds like the solution here is complete enforcement of every law. The hope would be that the ensuing uproar would cause removal or revision to the laws to ease up the resulting oppression.

In general, once there are enough laws that a person cannot know all of the laws that apply to them, selective enforcement of laws, and hence corruption, is inevitable.

In what way is this keeping the peace or beneficial to the public?

Actions like the above are why many citizens do not respect the laws and those who apply them; because they are not acting in a fittingly honorable manor.

> Bet you, like everyone else, assumed that if the dealer put his advertising frame on your plate, it must be lawful.

I did not assume that, and I reject that "everyone else" did.

If I were him, I'd file a claim against the dealer. But again, it is weird (and scary) how some laws like this are arbitrarily enforced.