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Saturday, November 30, 2013

AUSTRALIA - Queensland bikie laws trigger national protest

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Source: brisbanetimes.com.au


Australia - Recreational motorcyclists will protest across Australia on Sunday against the Queensland government's new anti-bikie laws. Rallies are planned in every capital city except Darwin, with the biggest expected in Brisbane.
Grass-roots riders have organised the events, mainly through social media, saying laws aimed at criminal bikie gangs have resulted in the harassment of law-abiding motorcyclists.
Civil libertarians, who've described the laws as "scary", will also join the protests. Advertisement
Australian Motorcycle Council (AMC) chairman Shaun Lennard has been invited to speak in Hobart.
"At last count I saw 24 different events around the country. They've been organised at the grass-roots level by people around the country concerned about what's happening in Queensland," he said on Friday.
Last month the AMC launched a fighting fund to raise money for any High Court challenge against the laws.
Mr Lennard said the AMC met a few weeks ago with Queensland's police minister and police commissioner to express its concerns, and another meeting is scheduled for Tuesday next week.
"Our main push is against this profiling of riders by Queensland police who want to ask questions of anyone riding a motorcycle about connections with proscribed organisations," he said.
Mr Lennard said the AMC also wanted police to abandon the suggestion recreational riders register their events to avoid police attention, describing it as silly.
Brisbane protest organiser Gabriel Buckley, who is a member of the Liberal Democrats, says the laws are an attack on civil liberties.
He's expecting between 1500 and 2000 people to rally at parliament house, including recreational riders who'll be arriving in groups from Redcliffe, Ipswich and Stapylton.
Mr Buckley said a primary concern was that the laws reversed the onus of proof for people accused of links to proscribed criminal gangs.
"As anyone who's done logic 101 knows, proving a negative is nigh on impossible," he said on Friday.
"And any organisation can be added to this list without any sort or review. It's all based on ministerial whim."
The rally at Brisbane's parliament house begins at 10am (AEST) on Sunday. The Hobart event, on the lawn outside parliament, begins at 9.30am (AEDT).
Police and the Newman government have previously asked recreational riders for patience amid the bikie crackdown but concede there will be disruptions for them.    

NEW YORK - The NYT On The HAMC

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agingrebel.com
After 26 months of research, the New York Times has finally published Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Serge F. Kovaleski’s 3,500 word think piece on the motorcycle outlaw frontier.
After the brawl and gunfight in John Ascuaga’s Nugget Hotel and Casino in Sparks, Nevada in late September 2011, Kovaleski proposed to take a “totally fresh look” at motorcycle clubs. He consulted informed sources from at least four one percenter motorcycle clubs and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and appears to have carefully contemplated what America needs to know and what the Times is willing to say.

Fritz Clapp
In the end Kovaleski decided to write mostly about Fritz Clapp. On his Facebook wall this morning, Clapp wrote “Big article in NY Times today about me and my friends.” Clapp is an offbeat attorney and confidant of Hells Angels eminence gris Sonny Barger. Clapp initiates all of the trademark infringement lawsuits for which the Angels have recently become famous. He accompanied Barger on the Chief’s book tour after the publication of Hell’s Angel. He was an executive producer on the Hells Angels movie the late Tony Scott almost made: Which would have been the first film since 1967’s Hells Angels on Wheels to allow actors to wear Hells Angel insignia including the death head patch. Clapp is not a member of the club although most Angels consider him to be the club’s best friend.
One long time Angel, speaking on conditions of anonymity, expressed reservations about Clapp’s influence on club policy. He said some members of the club were concerned that the proposed film and marketing deal would have resulted in “death heads on Happy Meals.” The same source alleged that Clapp would have been paid a seven figure fee if the film had gone into production. Mickey Rourke would have played Barger in the film which was roughly based on Jay Dobyns No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey To The Inner Circle Of The Hells Angels and to a lesser extent on two other books.

The Angels
The Times article lets the Hells Angels represent all outlaw clubs, which may be an inherently flawed point of view. Kovaleski is also oblivious or unconcerned about internal disputes within the club. Overall the feature is fair and even-handed to a fault.
The Times acknowledges that the Angels “still exists as a uniquely American subculture of hardened individualism, fierce fraternity and contempt for society’s mores.” The article also allows ATF Agent John Ciccone the opportunity to say:
“In my experience working street and motorcycle gangs, the Hells Angels operate like a criminal organization with a global infrastructure and a lot of money they can generate from members worldwide…If you go up against the Hells Angels to prove they are a racketeering enterprise, they do have the resources to fight tooth and nail and all the way to the end. You do not usually see those dynamics in street gangs like the Crips and Bloods.”
The article also treats Jay N. Richardson, the unscrupulous federal prosecutor in the South Carolina, Rock Hell Nomads case as an informed and legitimate source. But Kovaleski was bright and honorable enough to close what he has called “My opus on the Hells Angels” with a truthful quote from attorney Richard Gaxiola: “When it comes to the Hells Angels in the justice system, their constitutional rights are under assault at every step.” It would have been a better story if it had begun with that quote.
You can read the full article here.
The photo at the top of this story is from The Australian.



Friday, November 29, 2013

Motorcycle Clubs Australia.. MUST READ..

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MCANSG
https://www.facebook.com/outlawmotorcycleclubsaustralia
Recommend this FB page to keep up with all the bullshit happening to our brothers and sisters in Australia. Their reality could very well be our future here in the USofA. Don't believe it can never happen here. It is up to all of us, working together to save our culture.

AMA Opposes Federal Task Force for Helmet Laws

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AMA Opposes Federal Task Force for Helmet Laws 
The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) declares an open opposition to the recommendation of the Community Preventive Services Task Force and which is aimed at making helmets mandatory when riding a motorcycle in all states.
Wayne Allard, AMA vice president for government relations declares: "The AMA strongly advocates helmet use, but helmet use alone is insufficient to ensure a motorcyclist's safety.
There is a broad range of measures that can be implemented to improve the skill of motorcycle operators, as well as reduce the frequency of situations where other vehicle operators are the cause of crashes that involve motorcycles."
Now, while I strongly believe in the freedom of choice in most aspects of life, when it comes to motorcycles, I'd say who rides without a helmet is a dead man riding.. or something like that.
And this is not because he or she is a lousy rider and would fall to severe injuries or death, but because the very roads are dangerous, even without the presence of reckless motorists.
It kind of seems like AMA dreams about ideal an ideal word with ideal roads, and all those like them are in for quite a big disappointment. Despite the very vocal enemies of helmet laws, the statistics are very easy to understand: riders without helmets die ten times easier than those with head protection.
It's a matter of choice, but blaming the severe injuries and deaths solely on bad roads and idiot drivers is just not cutting it, sorry.



USA - Huge Profit Center Identified- Image of Disabled Veterans

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Yes, you read that headline correctly, but it isn’t what you think. And that is because you’ve been told HOW to think, which is not what you think. If you are confused, you will soon understand; just keep reading.
When most people think of supporting veterans, the image of a bumper sticker on the back of a gas guzzling S.U.V.; an S.U.V. which the usage of may or may not be further supporting the war more so than the desired outcome of an end to war- just sayin’. These bumper stickers say things like  “I support the troops!” “Support Veterans!” or a litany of other slogans that is intended to make the people behind aforementioned gas guzzling S.U.V. understand that the person in front of them supports the troops.
When one thinks of supporting disabled veterans, in today’s age, a litany of ‘alphabet soup’ type organizations come to mind, particularly, the VA and WWP, or Wounded Warrior Project.
A couple of weeks ago, an Iraq War veteran who is also a journalist, Dean Graham, wrote a scathing article about WWP, in which he mentioned some of their allegedly unscrupulous activities, such as profiting from the image of disabled veterans and spending nearly half of their intake on marketing and fundraising expenses, with not so much being passed on to the actual disabled veterans they parade around like war heroes (and they really are war heroes) to draw donations. (See article here:Wounded Warrior Project is a Fraud- Making Millions Off Disabled Veterans)
Interestingly, and if nothing more, proving Graham right, the WWP has allegedly filed a lawsuit against him, spending more money that could go to disabled veterans on lawyers.
Now, before you jump down the throat of anyone you know who is associated with the WWP, another company recently figured out how to make a quick buck off of a disabled veteran- preying on the “warm and fuzziness” so many people have come to associate with any cause pertaining to disabled veterans.
A YouTube video went viral several months ago, in which a designer had gone out and found a disabled veteran who suffers from severe depression and alcoholism, among other disabilities. A team of make up artists and film directors and producers whipped together a fast forward, time elapsed video showing a dirty, scruffy man- the veteran- seated in a stylist chair, getting a complete make over, from a hair cut and shave to a brand news suit. The end of the video states that the whole experience, finally, allowed this man to turn his life around and that he’d obtained gainful employment and had begun attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
However, just last week, sad news came out that the veteran in the video had relapsed on alcohol and gotten arrested.
(See related: Homeless Man That Gets Makeover Arrested).
It’s important to note that the creators of the video made more than $30,000 in ad revenue from the sheer amount of visits on YouTube. Did they use the money to come to the aid of the veteran they’d used as a prop to create the “warm and fuzzies” for so many, and rack up those views?
No.
The creator of the video, Rob Bliss, issued the following statement to CNN.
“If he gets arrested fewer times this year than last, that’s progress.”
You cannot claim to support the troops and veterans, while at the same time exploiting them or taking advantage of them for profit.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

“Be Aware of CopBlock Group” Warns NOLA Fraternal Order of Police

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FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE NEW ORLEANS

RELATED CONTENT
POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY TOUR

USA - Give Thanks for America's Bravest

Dear Philip,
I hope you find yourself with much to be thankful for in your home this Thanksgiving. You have certainly filled me with gratitude for your remarkable kindness. 
You’ve given America’s heroes meaningful thanks through your support of DAV. Would you now consider inviting your cherished family and friends to join you as you support those who have sacrificed so much to protect our country?
Click here to send an email to your loved ones letting them know you'd prefer a donation to DAV in lieu of a gift this holiday.
You’ll be offering people a great opportunity to give back during the season when the call to do so is strongest. 
Or, you could “pay it forward” yourself by making a special Thanksgiving Day gift in honor of someone who shares your gratitude for America’s heroes.
I understand your deep concern for our veterans, Philip, but those feelings may be a real revelation to the people you share them with this Thanksgiving!
Spread the word in your network as you ask family and friends to lift up America’s ill and injured troops!
How better to spend our national day of thanks?
With My Deepest Gratitude,
Marc Burgess
J. Marc Burgess
DAV National Adjutant/CEO
Disabled American Veterans | P.O. Box 14301 | Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301
Copyright © DAV, All Rights Reserved. DAV is a tax-exempt organization, and all contributions are tax-deductible according to IRS regulation.

www.DAV.org | Forward to a Friend | View as Webpage | Unsubscribe

CA - Hells Angels SFV TOY RUN - Dec. 1st

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San Fernando Valley Hells Angels host another GREAT TOY RUN!!!
December 1st, Sunday 11am till 4pm at Historical SFV Clubhouse.
Music, Food and TONS of RAFFLE & Give-aways!!
Please bring new unwrapped TOY!
Printable Flyer is attached for Details

SFV Toy Run benefits LIVE RIDE Ministry's ANGEL TREE
Christmas Gifts for Children whose parents are incarcerated.


Thank you, K.O.

FLORIDA - Next Sunday Dec 1, come and support our WOMEN VETERANS at ALR 47;

OFF THE WIRE
1200-1700 hrs
2315 N. Dixie Hwy 
Lake Worth Fl.

USA - The New Welfare Map

OFF THE WIRE
THE NEW WELFARE MAP 
Make sure you read to the bottom...
Quite an eye opener...

 
These 11 States now have More People on Welfare than they do Employed!
Last month, the Senate Budget Committee reports that in fiscal year 2012, between food stamps, housing support, child care, Medicaid and other benefits, the average U.S. Household below the poverty line received $168.00 a day in government support. What's the problem with that much support? Well, the median household income in America is just over $50,000, which averages out to $137.13 a day. To put it another way, being on welfare now pays the equivalent of $30.00 an hour for a 40-hour week, while the average job pays $20.00 an hour.
                Furthermore:
There are actually two messages here.  The first
Interesting, but the second is absolutely astounding - and explains a lot.
           A recent "Investor's Business Daily" article provided very
interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International
Health Organization.
           Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years
after diagnosis:
            U.S.                     65%
            England               46%
            Canada                42%
           Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received
treatment within six months:
            U.S.                      93%
            England               15%
            Canada                43%
           Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it
within six months:
            U.S.                      90%
            England               15%
            Canada                43%
           Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within
one month:
            U.S.                      77%
            England               40%
            Canada                43%
           Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million
people:
            U.S.                    71
            England              14
            Canada               18
           Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are
in "excellent health":
            U.S.                     12%
            England                2%
            Canada                6%
           And now for the last statistic:
           National Health Insurance?
            U.S.                      NO
            England             YES
            Canada              YES
           Check this last set of statistics!!
           The percentage of each past president's cabinet who had worked
in the private business sector prior to their appointment to the cabinet.
You know what the private business sector is; a real-life business, not a
government job.  Here are the percentages.
           T. Roosevelt.................... 38%
           Taft................................ 40%
            Wilson ........................... 52%
           Harding........................... 49%
           Coolidge......................... 48%
           Hoover ............................ 42%
           F. Roosevelt..................... 50%
           Truman........................... 50%
           Eisenhower................ .... 57%
           Kennedy......................... 30%
           Johnson.......................... 47%
           Nixon.............................. 53%
           Ford................................ 42%
           Carter............................. 32%
           Reagan............................ 56%
           GH Bush.......................... 51%
            Clinton .......................... 39%
           GW Bush........................ 55%
           Obama............................. 8%
           This helps to explain the incompetence of this administration:
only 8% of them have ever worked in private business!
           That's right!  Only eight percent---the least, by far, of the
last 19 presidents!  And these people are trying to tell our big
corporations how to run their business?
           How can the president of a major nation and society, the one
with the most successful economic system in world history, stand and talk
about business when he's never worked for one?  Or about jobs when he has
never really had one?  And when it's the same for 92% of his senior staff
and closest advisers?  They've spent most of their time in academia,
government and/or non-profit jobs or as "community organizers." 
They should have been in an employment line.
           Pass this on because we'll NEVER see these facts in the main stream media. Giving someone a hand up is noble. Our history and the aforementioned facts are clear. Giving someone a handout in order to make them dependent is just WRONG!

[LOOK] New York Sending Out Gun Confiscation Notices!

OFF THE WIRE
 / 9 hours ago
Screen-Shot-2013-11-27-at-9.31.12-AM

The New York SAFE Act is now in full swing, the state is sending out these notices to all residents in violation of honoring their constitutional rights. Wait…what? That’s right, this is New York’s version of if you like your gun, we’re taking it.

BABE OF THE DAY


USA - NORML, ARGUES CAN`T JUSTIFY SEARCHES BASED ON SMELL...

OFF THE WIRE
MA: NORML filed an “amicus curiae” brief with the state supreme appellate court on Friday, November 22, urging the court to enforce the limits on police searches set by 2008′s voter-initiative state decriminalization law, which eliminating police searches and arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Attorneys Michael Cutler of Northampton and Steven Epstein of Georgetown authored the brief.

See more at: http://blog.norml.org/2013/11/25/norml-argues-state-prosecutors-cant-justify-police-searches-based-on-smell/#sthash.6SM4vC6Q.dpuf

BABE OF THE DAY


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

USA - Motorcycle club says members are being profiled

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By 

Dispute over traffic stop photograph nearly brings out deputy's Taser

LIBERTY, Mo. —Law enforcement agencies said they're finding themselves at odds with a growing trend in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
The number of motorcycle clubs in the region has doubled in the past year. Members of the Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club, said they're not doing anything wrong and feel like police are profiling their club as gangs.
Attorney Sean Pickett said his client Jack Shelledy was stopped on Interstate 35.
"(It's) because he had a patch on. That's it. There's no reason why. It's completely unacceptable," Pickett said.
The routine stop escalated when a Clay County deputy tried to photograph Shelledy. According to the incident report, when Shelledy refused to have his picture taken the deputy threatened to use a Taser.
During a conversation in the deputy's cruiser, recorded on a dashboard camera, the deputy and a colleague discuss whether they're allowed to take a picture of an unwilling subject.
A motorcyclist who asked to be identified as Blake, a fellow Galloping Goose member, said it's unconstitutional.
"I guess I would say it would fall under profiling," he said.
Shelledy was given citations for following too closely, failure to display a certificate of inspection and failure to maintain a single lane. Then he was put into handcuffs.
"I'm going to write this (expletive) up for failure to comply with a lawful order of a deputy sheriff," the deputy said on the dashboard camera recording.
Shelledy had a federal drug conviction in the late 1990s, but in 2009 he was recognized by the Missouri Senate for his sobriety and charity work.
"The fact of who he was and he was in this area again, which from what I understand wasn't normal, we requested to take his picture," said Lt. Will Akin of the Clay County Sheriff's Office.
Shelledy's arrest was the only one during a September biker festival in Kearney called the Mule Run.
The Mule Run draws in bikers from around the region. The Clay County Sheriff's Office said it was concerned rival clubs were trying to move into town that weekend and might cause chaos.
Over the three days of the event, the department took a zero-tolerance policy. It stopped 31 cars, 14 motorcycles and four trucks, issuing eight citations and 33 warnings. Akin said the increased enforcement kept trouble from rolling into town.
"For them to come back and say that we were picking on them, well, if they felt that way, I can't answer why," Akin said.
He said deputies met with bikers ahead of the Mule Run to express concerns about rival clubs clashing.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office placed about 10 officers on overtime for six hours during the weekend's increased enforcement.
Shelledy is scheduled to appear before a Clay County judge Jan. 8 for a hearing about the traffic tickets.
 


Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/news/kansas-city/motorcycle-club-says-members-are-being-profiled/-/11664182/23176458/-/bfapro/-/index.html#ixzz2luE9mLcA

MINNESOTA - City attorney: OK for businesses to ban people displaying motorcycle club gear


City attorney: OK for businesses to ban people displaying motorcycle club gear

OFF THE WIRE


Sign of things to come.
Rochester bars and restaurants are not breaking the law when they deny access to people wearing jackets or other clothing that displays the names or symbols of the Rochester Chapter of the Sons of Silence and Med City Crew motorcycle clubs, said Rochester City Attorney Terry Adkins in a letter to the clubs’ lawyer.
Attorney Michael Bader, of St. Paul, who represents the Confederation of Clubs of Minnesota, stated in an Oct. 31 letter to Adkins and Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson that Rochester establishments discriminate against motorcycle club members and that the Rochester Police Department advises the bars and restaurants to do so.
Bader did not return phone calls for this report.
In a Post-Bulletin interview earlier this month, Bader threatened a lawsuit against the city unless Peterson would try to stop bars and restaurants from denying access to Sons of Silence and Med City Crew members who wear their club’s names, symbols and signs in the establishments.
Such discrimination violates Minnesota Statute 604.12, unless a person’s behavior is endangering other people or property, or the person’s clothing “is obscene or includes the name or symbol of a criminal gang,” according to the statute.
The point of disagreement between Bader and Adkins is whether the Rochester Chapter of the Sons of Silence and the Med City Crew are criminal gangs. Bader contends that neither group has shown a “pattern of criminal activity,” which is required by Minnesota Statute 609.229 before establishments can deny access to them.
However, after talking with the Rochester Police Department and reviewing the information it provided, Adkins said he found a pattern of criminal activity for the Sons of Silence and the Med City Crew, which supports the Sons of Silence.
“The Rochester Police Department tells me that the Sons of Silence is a motorcycle criminal gang with a common name whose members wear clothing containing an identifying sign/symbol,” Adkins stated in his Nov. 18 letter to Bader.
Adkins provided the information upon which he based his conclusion, including five criminal incidents between 1999 and 2013 involving Sons of Silence members in Rochester, St. Cloud, Iowa and Colorado. One of the incidents was a large fight at Whiskey Bones Roadhouse in Rochester in January 2011.
The Organized Crime and Gang Section of the U.S. Department of Justice has concluded that the Sons of Silence is “an organization whose members use their motorcycle club as a conduit for criminal enterprises,” Adkins wrote in the letter.
“As such, I have concluded that the Sons of Silence is a ‘criminal gang’ as that term is defined by Minn. Stat. 609.229, subd. 1,” Adkins wrote.

USA - 30 Cities Begin Harvesting DNA Without Consent!

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Posted by: 

Checkpoint_flashlights
What happened in Dallas/Fort Worth area was only the beginning. Federal Contractors set up road blocks in 30 cities across the country with one goal in mind; harvest your DNA. Libertarians, human rights activists, Republicans, Constitutionalists, and others are up in arms, and rightfully so.
The road blocks look like your standard Field Sobriety Test (FST) checkpoints. Men and women dressed in uniforms pulling people into a testing area with the premise that they are checking for drunk drivers. The real reason is a lot more sinister. These are not your local cops. These are Federal Agents there to collect blood and/or saliva. Your very own DNA coding is being put in a database and collected without your knowledge.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put up the road blocks to conduct a “study” that they had orchestrated. The road blocks were contracted with   the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, based in Calverton, MD. According to NBC Dallas/Ft Worth, the program will cost the taxpayers $7.9 million in three years.
The agency confirmed that the operation is currently being launched in 30 different U.S. cities.~Police State
Once they have you pulled over, they offer you cash for your DNA. The rate they paid out was $10 for a cheek swab, $50 for them to draw blood. Yes, we said draw blood. The NHTSA states that their goal is to analyze driver impairment by sifting through the data from the raw fluids.
They want to find out of all the people surveyed, how many people were driving with alcohol in their system, or prescription drugs, things like that,” said Lt. Freddie Turrentine of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, in Pell City, Alabama.~Police State
The big problem comes from whether or not this type of testing is done voluntary or if it is compelling without consent.
How voluntary is it when you have a police officer in uniform flagging you down?”~NBC Dallas/Ft Worth
NBC Fort Worth, Texas, did an in depth interview on the subject.
Kim Cope, of North Fort Worth, Texas, said that the checkpoint she experienced was not voluntary at all.  She was forced off the road into a parking lot on November 15th and pressured into submitting to a breathalyzer.  Cope was on her lunch break when she was forced into the checkpoint.  ”I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into a parking spot,” she said to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
“They were asking for cheek swabs. They would give $10 for that. Also, if you let them take your blood, they would pay you $50 for that.” But Cope was not interested in getting paid. “I finally did the Breathalyzer test just because I thought that would be the easiest way to leave.”
“How voluntary is it when you have a police officer in uniform flagging you down?” asked Susan Watson, executive director of the Alabama chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Are you going to stop? Yes, you’re going to stop.”
“Although this was voluntary it was not voluntary that you stop and hear the DNA for CASH pitch,” said Alabama resident ‘J. Bosey‘ after experiencing a checkpoint in June.
“It just doesn’t seem right that you can be forced off the road when you’re not doing anything wrong,” said Cope, discovering the tyranny of police checkpoints.  “None of it felt voluntary.”
A breath-sensing flashlight. (Source: A. Drey Photography)A breath-sensing flashlight. (Source: A. Drey Photography)
And as a Fort Worth attorney discovered in the fine print, some searches are blatantly performed without consent.  Attorney Frank Colosi pointed out that the fine print on a form given to drivers informs them their breath was tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before the consent process has been completed.”
One such search can be performed with a breath sensor disguised as a flashlight.  When a police officer sticks his flashlight in a driver’s face, its not just for intimidation and humiliation.  It may also be to perform a warrantless search of their breath.
“They’re essentially lying to you when they say it’s completely voluntary, because they’re testing you at that moment,” Colosi said.
Problems
  1. The aura of authority.  While insisting the program is “voluntary,” the NHTSA is going to the trouble of setting up roadblocks and hiring uniformed local cops to staff them.  While they are technically “off-duty” with their local departments — and receiving paychecks directly from the federal government — they are still utilizing their official police uniforms, official police vehicles, and official police equipment to make drivers comply with the roadblocks.   To reinforce the claim that the checkpoints are voluntary, the survey takers should be dressed in plain clothes, not presenting themselves as police officers giving orders.
  2. Ineffective.  Common sense tells us that if the tests are voluntary, and the goal is to find people who are breaking the law, then the data is going to be useless.  The people who are actually impaired on the road are going to make every effort to avoid being caught.  The resultant test group will be comprised mostly of people who are not impaired and just want to collect some free Federal giveaway money.
  3. Expensive.  For a country that runs trillion dollar deficits annually, the federal government certainly finds some bizarre things to spend money on.  Spending nearly $8 million on an ineffective and invasive survey seems like an easy place to start cutting.
  4. Searches without consent.  Kim Cope’s account draws into question whether the roadblocks are being presented as voluntary at all.  And as pointed out above, the “passive alcohol sensor readings” are performed on people without their consent.
  5. Federal overreach.  The roadblocks are, at least in some cases, being set up by the federal government without the local government’s knowledge or approval.  In Alabama, Gov. Robert Bentley received complaints about the NHTSA checkpoints and admitted he had not been notified of their presence.
More dubiously, the program has the passive effect of conditioning the public to accept government agents setting up roadblocks in their communities for any reason imaginable.   If Americans wish to live in a society that does not accept police checkpoints as a routine part of their daily lives, it is important to push back against these programs at every opportunity.~NBC Dallas/Ft Worth
So they are already checking your breath when they pull you over. Then a uniformed cop offers you money for your blood in order to let you go. How voluntary is that?
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