Alek Schott president of RMS Controls, traveled home on Interstate 35 in March 2022 after a work trip in the oil industry. While driving his black Ford 250 pickup, he was pulled over by Deputy Joel Babb of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. The stop, claimed to be for drifting across a fog line, quickly escalated into a lengthy detention and a full-scale search.
Schott’s attorneys, Christie Hebert and Jeff Rowes of the Texas Office of the Institute for Justice, argued that the encounter was the product of a broader, technology-driven policing program. Federal surveillance cameras, an anonymous tip, a manipulated K-9 alert, and an invented traffic violation were combined to justify the stop. No contraband or illegal activity was uncovered during the roughly 40-minute vehicle search.
Court analysis and jury decision
The case was heard before U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia. A federal jury found that the stop violated the Fourth Amendment which requires all searches to be reasonable. Schott testified, “I was returning from a work trip…spent 76 minutes detained by the side of the road for doing nothing wrong.” The jury awarded him a symbolic $76—one dollar for each minute he was held—as a statement that the case was about principle, not profit.
Legal basis
Schott sued under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act a statute that holds local governments liable when an official policy or custom results in a constitutional breach. He and the Institute for Justice presented evidence that the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office routinely used automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) to flag vehicles for further scrutiny, then fabricated minor violations to create a pretext for stops.
Broader implications for surveillance policing
The verdict underscores growing concerns about mass-surveillance technologies in law-enforcement. ALPRs, supplied at the time by companies like Vigilant, capture license-plate data from passing vehicles, allowing agencies to reconstruct travel patterns. Hebert explained that the system targeted ordinary drivers, hoping that increased vehicle checks would inevitably uncover criminal activity—a method the Fourth Amendment does not permit.
Attorney Hebert said the Institute for Justice plans to request a permanent injunction from Judge Garcia, demanding the sheriff’s office cease traffic stops that rely on the same data-driven model. The legal team also signaled readiness to represent other motorists who experience similar treatment.
Official response
The Bexar County sheriff’s office declined to comment, referring inquiries to the district attorney’s office. No response was received before publication.
While the $76 award may seem modest, the case sends a clear message: law-enforcement agencies cannot rely on opaque, technology-heavy “dragnet” tactics to justify stops without concrete, individualized suspicion. The decision could influence how other jurisdictions across Texas and the nation deploy ALPRs and other surveillance tools.
