Be careful if you are a Canadian in the US!

JaxDad wrote:
Not that I’m defending this particular LEO, but the gal involved was interviewed on TV this morning.

For the first time I’ve seen or heard she divulged a new little tidbit, she admitted she told the officer that she had been living in the US, Tennessee in particular, for years while she was attending university there. She had stopped in TN to visit friends, then on to FL to visit an aunt and was returning to TN when she was stopped.

The fact that she admitted to keeping her Ontario license while living in TN was the key issue IMHO.

As a VISITOR, even for months my Ontario D/L is just fine, but as a RESIDENT I’d have to get a D/L from my new place of residence. It was on this basis that the officer said her D/L was not valid.

She also said the officer told her that there was concern about her returning to Canada without dealing with the matter. Most States have a pact that fines can be dealt with in your home State. Canada is obviously not part of that pact.

This girl lives in Ontario and is attending school in Tennessee. Almost all jurisdictions have provisions for students that allow them to retain their domicile state/ provincial drivers licences. Regardless, she had a valid DL, at most (if Georgia had no provision for students, which I doubt) she could have been cited for failing to change her DL to Tennessee one - like failing to notify of a change in address, it's different than not having one at all). But the point is, the response to whatever paperwork glitch there may have been, physically being placed under arrest is WAY beyond appropriate.