Compiled and Edited by BILL BISH,NATIONAL COALITION OF MOTORCYCLISTS
OHIO CONSIDERS BIKER ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BILL As Fall comes into full swing, the legislative staff of the Ohio Motorcyclists Coalition has been hard at work through the Summer advancing the cause of Equal Access for all motorcyclists. House Bill 238, which seeks to outlaw discrimination against motorcyclists, now has the support of at least 24 Ohio Representatives, and it has passed its first Sponsor’s Hearing.
Sponsored by Ohio Rep. Sylvester Patton (D64), HB 238 would prohibit the denial of access to public accommodations to persons because they ride motorcycles or wear clothing that displays the name of a motorcycle-related organization. So while most riders were enjoying a Summer ride, the OMC lobbying team of Ralph Buss, Michael Stanley and Michael Warren accompanied OMC Lobbyist Ed Hogan to a face to face meeting with Ohio’s Attorney General, Betty Montgomery, to discuss the need for statutory protections for bikers.
Ralph Buss, the Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) Attorney for Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, initiated the first Biker Anti-Discrimination Bill in the country in 1994 when it was introduced in the Ohio Legislature. Since that time, at least 19 states have considered such legislation, with Minnesota becoming the first state to enact Equal Access Legislation in 1998. Earlier this year, Texas overwhelmingly passed an Equal Access bill through their legislature, only to have it vetoed at the last minute by their governor.
U.S. SUPREME COURT APPROVES ROADBLOCKS The U.S. Supreme Court concluded it is constitutional for law enforcement officers to set up roadblocks to randomly check motorists and other road users for proper driver’s licenses.
Without comment, the justices declined to hear — and thus let stand — an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that concluded roadblocks established by Dayton police did not violate the U. S. Constitution’s ban on unreasonable search and seizure.
The justices handed a victory to Dayton police who set up roadblocks to catch unlicensed drivers. Dayton officials argued that the checks took only a matter of moments and that the city had a compelling reason to determine whether operators were legally licensed to drive.
With its decision not to hear the case, the justices expanded the reach of two of their earlier decisions that provided police with broader powers to establish checkpoints without first obtaining a warrant.
This news should be of particular interest to motorcyclists, who typically are vociferously opposed to unwarranted stop, question and search methods as a means of profiling bikers, though such roadblocks would certainly improve on the high percentage of riders who are unlicensed
SMILE, IT’S BIG BROTHER According to the Associated Press, a judge in San Diego dismissed 290 Red Light camera tickets on September 3rd saying the camera evidence was inadmissible because of the “private corporation’s role in operation of the system and its per-ticket collection of fees violated state law.”
The National Motorists Association and other organizations have long questioned the effectiveness of these cameras and instead have campaigned for increasing the yellow time which has been effective in nearly eliminating tickets from locations where the red-light cameras have been installed. You can visit the NMA at www.motorists.org.BIKER MAGAZINE
TARGET PRACTICE A good story deserves a good airing. What follows was spotted in BIKER magazine, which had spotted it in PILOT magazine. Two members of the Lothian and Borders traffic police were recently having a pleasant time out on the Scottish moors, trapping speeding motorists with a radar gun. Suddenly their equipment went crazy, registering a speed of over 300 miles per hour. It then locked up completely. Seconds later the startled boys in blue understood why, as a low-flying Harrier jet screamed over their heads.
Upset that their radar gun had been broken, the policemen put in a complaint to the Royal Air Force-only to discover that the damage could easily have been much worse. The RAF informed them that the Harrier’s target-seeker had locked on to what it had interpreted as enemy radar. This immediately triggered an automatic air-to-surface missile attack. Fortunately for the two policemen, the Harrier was operating unarmed.
S.C. SUPREME COURT HEARS TATTOO CASE South Carolina’s highest court heard a challenge to the state’s tattooing ban, focusing on whether the practice is an issue of free speech or public health, reports the ASSOCIATED PRESS.
Ronald White, who was sentenced to five years of probation for illegal tattooing, says a South Carolina law that allows tattooing only by physicians violates his First Amendment right of free expression. Oklahoma is the only other state with a similar law banning tattooing.
“We all have a right to look at a painting, but this law would ban the artist from painting it,” White’s lawyer, Jared Newman, told the South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 14.
But Charles Richardson of the state attorney general’s office said the law was “not a banning of ideas, but the medium utilized. … the human body.”
“Isn’t tattooing a form of artwork?” Chief Justice Jean Toal asked. She said tattooing was mentioned in literature and throughout history as a form of expression and that courts have held that activities such as nude dancing were forms of expression.”
Newman said the state allows other forms of so-called body art, such as piercing. In that case, practitioners must be licensed and regulated, restrictions that would also eliminate the public health concerns surrounding tattoos.
State Sen. William Mescher has been trying since 1994 to legalize and regulate tattooing. His chief opponent has been Rep. Jake Knotts, who has said that “if the Lord wanted you to have a tattoo, he would have put it on you.”
White, 32, contends that tattooing is older than most of today’s religions and said he has given many illegal tattoos in South Carolina, though he has stopped tattooing here because it would be a violation of his probation.
As he and other tattoo aficionados await the court’s decision, White said he was encouraged by the justices’ line of questioning. “I think they were educated questions and (the justices) realize they are dealing with an art form.”
Last fall, a Massachusetts trial judge ruled that state’s law banning tattooing violated free speech rights. Another judge kept the ban in effect for several months so the state could create industry regulations, and tattoo parlors began operating there legally in February.PAGE IVEY, AP Writer
BIKER FOOTBALL Berlin’s “Dynamo” football team was recently purchased by the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in Germany, reports the German newspaper “BILD”. The football club was prepared to file for bankruptcy, but has been rescued by the local bikers.
The team dominated East German football under the Communists, and went down-hill dramatically after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is currently facing relegation to Germany’s fifth division.
With debts of $3.5 million, Dynamo Berlin was all set to register its bankruptcy prior to the bikers’ bailout of the team.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD: POLICE BAN KNIGHT FROM HIS IRON HORSE A Dutch man dressed as a knight in shining armor riding on a motorcycle made to look like a horse has been ordered off the road. Police in Zwijndrecht say the 41-year-old frightened members of the public every time he went shopping.
He dresses as a medieval knight complete with aluminum armor. His motorcycle has been rebuilt with steel plates in the shape of a horse.
Police have seized the iron steed on the grounds that it is not road worthy and could be dangerous to other road users.
The ‘knight’ has now got a warrant to get his ‘horse’ back but must rebuild it to its original form.
It is not known why he went shopping disguised as a knight, reports the Dutch press agency ANP.
FREE ITALIAN PIZZA FOR HELMET WEARERS A southern Italian council is offering a complimentary pizza to young motorcyclists who wear a helmet.
Traffic wardens in Acerra have been told to give vouchers to those seen wearing helmets entitling them to a free restaurant feed.
Mayor Michelangelo Riemma says he decided on the move to improve road safety among young motorcyclists.
Although wearing helmets while riding is compulsory in Italy, the rule is not observed by some people.
TGCOM website reports that Mr Riemma said: “I’ve had an accident earlier this year on my Vespa and the helmet saved my life. That is why I’m trying to do everything I can to get my fellow young citizens wearing a helmet as well.”
QUOTABLE QUOTES: “Don’t be disquieted in time of adversity. Be firm with dignity and self-reliant with vigor.”CHIANG KAI-SHEK(1886-1975) Chinese soldier, statesman
Police State By Kelly Patricia O’Meara
If the United States is at war against terrorism to preserve freedom,a new coalition of conservatives and liberals is asking, why is it doing soby wholesale abrogation of civil liberties? They cite the Halloween-weekpassage of the antiterrorism bill – a new law that carries the almostpreposterously gimmicky title: “Uniting and Strengthening America byProviding Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct TerrorismAct” (USA PATRIOT Act). Critics both left and right are saying it not onlystrips Americans of fundamental rights but does little or nothing to securethe nation from terrorist attacks.
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, one of only three Republican lawmakers tobuckthe House leadership and the Bush administration to vote against thislegislation, is outraged not only by what is contained in the antiterrorismbill but also by the effort to stigmatize opponents. Paul tells Insight,”The insult is to call this a ‘patriot bill’ and suggest I’m not patrioticbecause I insisted upon finding out what is in it and voting no. I thoughtit was undermining the Constitution, so I didn’t vote for it – and thereforeI’m somehow not a patriot. That’s insulting.”
Paul confirms rumors circulating in Washington that this sweeping newlaw, with serious implications for each and every American, was not madeavailable to members of Congress for review before the vote. “It’s myunderstanding the bill wasn’t printed before the vote – at least I couldn’tget it. They played all kinds of games, kept the House in session all night,and it was a very complicated bill. Maybe a handful of staffers actuallyread it, but the bill definitely was not available to members before thevote.”
And why would that be? “This is a very bad bill,” explains Paul, “andI think the people who voted for it knew it and that’s why they said, ‘Well,we know it’s bad, but we need it under these conditions.'” Meanwhile,efforts to obtain copies of the new law were stonewalled even by thecommittee that wrote it. Kelly Patricia O’Meara is an investigative reporter for Insight.
