Welcome to

The Florida Supreme Court will decided if police can continue to ticket drivers with loud stereos. Right now an officer can pull a driver over if their music is “plainly audible” 25 feet from their car. As Whitney Ray tells us, a Pinellas County attorney is challenging a ticket he received in 2007 in front of the state’s highest court.

State law says music is too loud if it’s “plainly audible” from 25 feet away. In 2007, Pinellas County Attorney Richard Catalona was caught with his stereo turned up. He challenged the ticket and won.

“The problem is it means whatever the officer says it means. When you get laws like that you’ve got a major problem,” said Catalona.

Catalona’s case made it all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, where Thursday he stood 25 feet from the justices and asked.

“Am I plainly audible now?”

The state augured the law is meant to protect drivers who may not here emergency sirens if their music is too loud.

“What the legislature has done is draw a statute and try to draw lines based upon what would be unsafe, what level of noise inside the car would be unsafe,” said Timothy Osterhaus, attorney for the state.

The justices listened to the case for 45 minutes. If they side with Catalona look for roadways to get even louder. The law exempts political speech or business ads from the 25 feet rule if the speakers playing the messages are on the outside of the vehicle. The court could issue a ruling anytime or not at all.