A vehicle might appear to be a certain color, but its registration says that it should be a different color. This might happen if a motorist decide d to repaint the vehicle. This might also occur if a vehicle has a paint job that cannot be described as one color or another, because it looks like one color in a certain light and a different color in another light. Or it might even happen if the department of motor vehicles makes a clerical error when recording the information for the registration. In sum, it is not a big deal—and it is not a crime —if the re is such a discrepancy.

Many such vehicles pass through so -called "high -crime areas," generally in urban areas.

The question presented is whether an officer patrolling in a "high -crime area" has reasonable suspicion to stop any vehicle that does not a ppear to be the color listed in its registration. The Eighth Circuit said yes; the correct answer is no.

Whether an officer has reasonable suspicion to stop a vehicle based solely on a discrepancy between the vehicle's apparent color and the color listed on its registration