In my opinion, if the average citizen can't get the information associated with a license plate, the government shouldn't be allowed to run our license plates without reasonable articulable suspicion or probable cause of a crime. This seems like it should be a 4th Amendment violation. The police have absolutely no authority over a citizen unless they have RAS or PC of a crime and shouldn't have any more access to that information than any other citizen at that point. Only after RAS or PC is established should the government be allowed to run your license plate. All to often we see law enforcement try to demand ID from someone without RAS or PC and be denied, only to turn around and run their license plate out of retaliation. If they can't legally demand a citizen identity themselves, why should they be allowed to circumnavigate our 4th Amendment protections by finding out who we are another way? Yes the license plate is in public view, but the associated information is not available to the average citizen so it shouldn't be available to law enforcement without RAS or PC. Additionally, because we don't have the option to keep our license plates out of public view, that should be another reason why the police shouldn't be allowed to run our license plates without RAS or PC. This is no different than if we were required to display our driver's license on our shirts, which would be a violation of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. It should be against the law for police to run your license plate without RAS or PC. License plate readers, other than on toll roads and red light cameras, should be illegal as well.