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    If the cop was indeed harassing the OP who then took him to court, what punishment would the cop get and for what offence? Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 22:33
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    This would be a civil rights violation; the officer could be civilly liable, except that the court would probably not find that the officer had been "put on notice" w.r.t. the action, so he would have qualified immunity (and thus no consequence for the officer). I'm not saying that it would be pointless: the point could be to get a ruling that results in a change of policy and does put officers on notice. Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 23:41
  • Have any idea why they are not required by law to tell you the real reason for stopping? Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 0:51
  • Because the Texas legislature has not passed a law which forces police to answer that question. It is within their power to do so, but have not. On Politics SE they might give details about why, but it's essentially because there is no political demand for such a change in the law. Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 0:56
  • @AlexDoe the meaning of "the police need to justify a stop in court" is that the best chance you have of getting them to describe why they've stopped you is to do something to get yourself arrested and charged. Then, in your defense against the charge, you challenge the stop as illegal, forcing the police to justify it. The other negative consequences of this approach, however, most likely far outweigh any benefit you might perceive in forcing the police to describe why they stopped you. Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 5:27