Anyone who knows anything about dealing with law enforcement knows that the one thing you never do, when pulled over for a traffic violation, is start talking about your “rights.” A traffic cop is not the Supreme Court. He’s just there to enforce the law, and the minute you start lecturing the cop about your “rights,” the cop figures he’s dealing with an arrogant troublemaker. If the officer can think up any plausible reason to arrest you, it’s a good bet that scene will end with you handcuffed in the back of a patrol car.

Reese Witherspoon apparently needed to learn this lesson the hard way. When a police officer in Atlanta pulled over her husband, Jim Toth, for drunk driving, Reese decided to lecture the cop: ”I’m an American citizen … I’m allowed to stand on American ground.” She also gave the cop the typical celebrity Don’t-You-Know-Who-I-Am routine, which for some strange reason never seems to impress the police. And as Michelle Malkin said on Twitter, “Best line from Witherspoon arrest isn’t from her. It’s when officer politely says: “I done told you how things work.” Watch the video from TMZ:

Both Witherspoon and her husband pleaded guilty yesterday. Let that be a lesson to you kids.