Vermont Constitution Article 11 — Privacy & Search Defense
Article 11 of the Vermont Constitution provides MORE protection than the federal Fourth Amendment, as the Vermont Supreme Court has repeatedly held (e.g., State v. Bryant, 2008 VT 39). Vermont has not adopted Maine's ALPR Act, but Article 11 jurisprudence allows challenge to mass plate-scanning in support of parking enforcement on similar privacy grounds. If your citation was triggered by ALPR scanning by a private contractor or by a mass-scan database lookup unrelated to articulable suspicion, Article 11 supports a motion to suppress.
Legal basis
Vt. Const. ch. I, art. 11; State v. Bryant, 2008 VT 39; State v. Geraw, 173 Vt. 350 (2002)
Sample appeal wording
[DATE] Vermont Judicial Bureau PO Box 607 Burlington, VT 05402 Re: Civil Violation #[NUMBER] — Motion to Suppress (Vt. Const. art. 11) Dear Hearing Officer: I move to suppress all evidence derived from automated license plate recognition (ALPR) scanning relied upon to support citation #[NUMBER]. Vermont Constitution Article 11 provides protection broader than the federal Fourth Amendment (State v. Bryant, 2008 VT 39), and warrantless mass plate scanning in support of routine civil parking enforcement, absent articulable individualized suspicion, exceeds Article 11's bounds. In support I request, under 1 V.S.A. §§315-320, the issuing authority's ALPR policy, audit log of the scan that generated this citation, and any contract with a private ALPR vendor. In the alternative I request a hearing on the merits with strict application of the clear-and-convincing standard. Sincerely, [NAME] [ADDRESS] [PHONE] [EMAIL]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
Beat It writes this argument automatically
Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket, drafts a properly-cited appeal letter, and submits it to the council on your behalf. Only pay if you win.
Scan my ticketSources
- Vt. Const. ch. I, art. 11
- State v. Bryant, 2008 VT 39
- ACLU Vermont — ALPR advocacy