THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists(AIM) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and is sponsored by the LawOffices of Richard M. Lester. For more information, call us at (800) ON-A-BIKE, or visitus on the web at www.ON-A-BIKE.com.
COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
NATION’S CAPITOL QUIET, EXCEPT FOR MOTORCYCLES It was a quiet day on Capitol Hill onSeptember 11th, until a hearty group of motorcycle riders roared across the Potomac aftertraveling more than 3,000 miles and collecting $1 million to help the families of 9/11victims.
A year ago, smoke from the Pentagon cast a shadowy pall over the Capitol, but onWednesday a picture-perfect blue sunlit sky greeted the riders as they gathered for aPentagon Memorial.
“The nation is back on its feet and we’re doing the hard work of trying to help thesepeople who lost their family members try and put their lives together and to fight thewar that needs to be fought so this can never happen again,” Representative ChristopherCox told the 75 riders gathered at the base of the Capitol dome. Cox, R-Newport Beach,traded his business suit in for jeans and a leather vest as he rode out to join themotorcyclists for the ride into the city.
“I’ve completed my mission,” Mitch Morrison of Newport Beach told the Orange CountyRegister. As chairman of the Word Trade Center Miracles Foundation, Morrison organizedthe ride when fund raising began to ebb several months after the attacks.
Wearing black leather vests with an American flag and the words “Let’s Roll” on the back,the motorcyclists have stopped in communities along the way, picking up contributions andother riders during their cross-country pilgrimage.
FEDERAL COURT RULES BIKER COLORS OKAY IN NEVADA COURTHOUSE A Carson City courthousedress code that prohibits biker “colors” is unconstitutional, a federal appeals courtruled on Monday, August 26th, overturning a Northern Nevada judge’s ruling and findingthat motorcyclists can wear “biker colors,” even those with swastikas, inside thecourthouse.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tentatively canceled a ruling by U.S. DistrictJudge Philip Pro and ruled that a ban on such garb in a Carson City court buildingviolated First Amendment rights of expression.
Circuit Judge William Fletcher, writing for a three-judge panel, said restrictions thatled to the arrests of motorcyclists who refused to take their jackets off at thecourthouse were unreasonable.
The ruling applies to areas of court buildings except for courtrooms where, Fletchersaid, judges can impose restrictions to ensure “a reasoned resolution of issues.”
But he said there was nothing to show that extending a ban on biker clothing to hallwaysor other non-courtroom areas “can plausibly be justified by the need to protect thecourtroom environment itself.”
The judge also said there’s no evidence to conclude that, “clothing indicatingaffiliation with biker organizations is particularly likely to be disruptive orintimidating.”
Citing 1985 and 1971 U.S. Supreme Court cases on First Amendment rights, Fletcher addedit’s not reasonable “to prohibit speech in courthouse hallways merely because it mayoffend some people’s sense of decorum.” There was no evidence of any danger created bythe bikers’ jackets and so the rules seem to be “impermissibly motivated by a desire tosuppress a particular point of view,” the judge said.
The controversy began with the March 2001 arrests of Scot Banks and Steve Dominguez ofReno when they appeared at the courthouse to contest a traffic citation and were told bysecurity officers that they couldn’t wear their swastika-decorated Branded Few M/C clubcolors inside. After refusing to remove their vests or leave, they were arrested fortrespassing and their vests were confiscated.
Two weeks later, ten other bikers were cited for the same offense when they came to themen’s hearing to show their support and also refused to take their jackets off or leavethe premises.
Those cited wore vests that carried a variety of symbols, including an angel over thebackground of a Christian cross and the American flag.
One of those bikers, Rick Eckhardt of the Christian motorcycle club His Royal Priesthood,told the Reno Gazette-Journal that the dress code discriminates against motorcycle ridersby limiting what they can wear in a public building. “It’s very important that we’reable to enter the federal building and the courthouse, especially if we have a hearing togo to or need to go to court in support of one of our friends,” said Eckhardt. “We justwant the same rights everyone else has to go to court and be heard.”
They all pled innocent and then challenged the constitutionality of the court’s dresscode rules before going to trial on the trespassing charges, said lawyer Kevin Karp, whois representing the bikers on the criminal charges. Karp is the Northern Nevada A.I.M.(Aid to Injured Motorcyclists) Attorney, and serves as legal counsel to the NorthernNevada Confederation of Clubs.
“The court did the right thing,” said Karp, who has contacted the District Attorney torequest dismissal of the trespassing charges in light of the federal court’s decision. “This issue has started to arise in other parts of the country where courthouses aretrying to ban biker apparel, and we hope this decision stops those restrictions dead intheir tracks.”
SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO HEAR HELMET CASE The United States Supreme Court has declinedABATE of Georgia’s application for a hearing on the constitutionality of the state’s”protective headgear” law.
According to ABATE State Director Dan Rathbun, “They only gave a one-sentence statement,with no reason stated on why they chose not to hear our case. They don’t have to give areason, and chose not to. Our attorneys stated that they only choose to review about 2%of the case brought to them, and we fell into the other 98%.”
Rathbun went on to say, “This brings an end to what has been an interesting experience. There is nowhere else we can go with this on a legal front. But you can bet your buttthat we got a lot of folks attention under the gold dome. There have been more than afew legislators who have come by and said that they did not realize how organized we areand that we had grown enough to be able to do this. So now that they know we are a forceto be reckoned with, we need to keep after those folks at the Capitol.”
“As we have exhausted any legal efforts at present, the political arena is where we willneed to focus our energy,” summed up Rathbun.ER of Dallas
HELMETS FOR EVERYBODY Safetycrats are at it again, as the governor of California hassigned into law a bill approved by the state legislature mandating helmets for kids whoride, practically anything.
Senate Bill 1924 by State Senator Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo) says that anyone 18years old and younger must wear headgear when riding any non-motorized scooter,skateboard or in-line skates, extending the existing bicycle helmet law to such popularwheeled toys.
Other states, including Rhode Island, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, already havesimilar laws on the books. Helmets already are required for bicycle riders 18 years oldand under, and they are also mandatory in all youth baseball leagues and in other youthsports such as football and hockey. And, of course, California is one of 20 states thatrequire all motorcyclists to wear helmets.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, skateboard-related injuries in 2000 wereresponsible for 50,000 emergency room visits and 1,500 hospitalizations. The ConsumerProduct Safety Commission states that nationwide there were 40,500 scooter-relatedinjuries treated in emergency rooms in 2000.
ABATE of California mounted a letter writing campaign against the bill, and testifiedagainst it in both houses, “But, of course, anything to protect the children?” said ABATELegislative Director Jean Hughes, sarcastically explaining the legislature’s reasoning inenacting the new helmet law.
“It is interesting to note the hypocrisy of this particular piece of legislation,”continues Hughes, “Now, a 19 year old skateboarder can decide how to dress himself, but a40 year old biker can’t.”
MASSACHUSETTS APPROVES HANDICAP PLATES FOR MOTORCYCLISTS Until now, Rick “Bubba” Youngof Palmer, Mass., an amputee, could park his truck but not his motorcycle in designatedhandicap parking spaces.
On Saturday, September 7, 2002 at Tibby’s Harley-Davidson dealership in Springfield, theDeputy Registrar of Motor Vehicles Steve Sebestyen presented two local residents thefirst issue of handicap registration plates for motorcyclists who qualify, announced JimiRicci, chairman of the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association and a member of the NationalCoalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) board of directors.
Bubba and other handicap riders and members of the motorcycle association, have beenfighting over eight years, for equal assess and “equity” to be able to park theirmotorcycles in handicap spaces. But until now, it’s been against the law.
Last month Governor Jane Swift signed into law House Bill 4099, an act authorizing theRegistry of Motor Vehicles to issue such “equity plates” to motorcyclists who qualify.
“When the international access symbol was first issued in 1978, I think it was just anoversight and preconceived opinion a person with a handicap couldn’t ride a motorcycle,”said Paul W. Cote, the Association’s Legislative Director. “However, to those with somehandicap, riding a motorcycle is one of the greatest freedoms.”
WEIRD NEWS OF THE MONTH: WEIGHTY EXAMINERS TOO HEAVY FOR MOTORCYCLE TESTS Motorcycletests in a Norwegian town were postponed because the available examiners were too heavyto ride tandem. All the thin examiners at Elverum Traffic Station were away on summervacation, and those left on duty to put people through the light motorcycle test weightoo much. The license regulations include a maximum load that assumes the driver weighs165 lbs. A tandem passenger who breaks the limit by himself isn’t allowed, reports theAftenposten newspaper.
Examiner Bjoern Mellembakken, who weighs 202 lbs, says the station only has three peoplewho are light enough to accompany learners during the practical test. He said: “This isa problem for us in general. We’re big guys.” He said he doesn’t foresee diets or liposuction being used to reverse the trend.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absoluterejection of authority.”
THOMAS HUXLEY, Scientist (1825-1895)
AND NOW FOR THE GUNNY’S SACK
This might be a last reminder to make your plans to come to Portland, Oregon for theupcoming West Coast Regional Conference of the National Coalition Of Motorcyclists, NCOM.
Come in on Friday night, November 1st, and the main action runs all day Saturday,November 2nd. Reserve your room NOW at the NCOM rate of only $69 a night, at theDOUBLETREE HOTEL, 1401 N. Hayden Island Dr. Call 503-283-2111. That’s about $40 a nightoff their cheapie rate! Call that number too, for the FREE airport shuttle. TheConference is free to all bikers. Saturday night is the party with LIVE MUSIC to topthings off, and a no-host bar right there. The hotel is also fully equipped.
Those of you in the West who for whatever reason can’t get to the big nationalconventions: make an effort to come see us! It’s in our back yard. Co-Sponsors are AIM,BikePAC of Oregon, ABATE of Oregon, and the Oregon Confederation of Clubs.
You can expect to LEARN a ton at the seminars, and be more effective in your localmotorcycle rights issues. Yours truly will be there, along with NCOM and AIM founderRichard Lester, AIM attorneys Sam Hochberg, Marty Fox, and many, many more.
These conferences are there for all the biker leaders as well as troops from all over theWest who feel the same way we do about our basic freedoms. FREEDOM ain’t free folks, andwe need to spend the time it takes to maintain it. A good friend of mine and fellowfreedom fighter Lil’ Jimmy Rouse, recently deceased, rest his soul, said: “If we don’thang together we’ll sure as hell hang by ourselves.”
As it happens, Lil’ Jimmy is another of those so dear to me that inspired me to continuein this never ending contest for our rights in this great country of ours. Almost dailynow we lose some of our most powerful members of this group. We should actively recruitYOUNG people to forge ahead with our ideals and notions of right and wrong or we will oneday not have folks to carry on the ideals of our forefathers. That scares the skivviesoffa me folks. That’s why Lil’ Jimmy was one of my heroes.
MORE HEROES: Continuing with my thoughts from the last Sack about the terrific peopleI’ve known in the biker world, there are many folks that come to mind, but y’can’t missSPUTNIK from Texas. Almost single-handedly, he set up the network that eventually took agreat deal of power in the Texas Democratic Party. He went home from an NCOM Conventionone year and went to work for his people, the bikers of Texas. This man wears out tireson his bike before the bluing comes off the sidewalls. He rides more than a 100,000miles a year, and he’s a true freedom Warrior. He is also a recent recipient of NCOM’sRon Roloff Lifetime Achievement award. There are many more biker heroes, and I want tocontinue to talk about them from time to time, right here in Sack-land.
MORE ON TV: And morons on TV, too. Sam Hochberg, our AIM Attorney, saw some and reportson it. He WAS a news guy, a disk-jockey and a radio talk-show host, y’know. Here’s hisreport: SAM here! So, a few Sundays back, I was sitting in my recliner, laptop on my lapand online while my wife and I had the TV on. The regular modern man. Well I’m staringat god-knows-what on my computer screen when I hear a motorcycle on TV, on the HBO show,”Sex in the City.” So I pop my head up, and there’s “Carrie’s” new maybe-beau, trying toride what looked like a Yamaha cruiser. He’s wearing a FULL-face helmet, he’s barelyever ridden, he almost drops it and he nearly hits the pavement. Next thing I hearCarrie is worried about problems with this guy, and says “They oughta have a helmet lawfor relationships!” An innocent enough, almost-funny quip, but it DOES betray a mediamind-set now, doesn’t it?
NEWS BITS’N PIECES: MILWAUKEE, WIS. : 2003 signals the 100th anniversary of America?sbeloved Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It’s gonna be a year-long celebration all over thecountry. Be sure you get in on the fun. Watch your local news media for coverage ofevents in your town. WOW! 100 years old. Some landmark. Finally, something evenolder’n me!
SANTA MONICA, Calif.: According to reports from the Associated Press (AP), KeithEmerson’s custom motorcycle, hand-painted with cover art from his band’s 1973 album”Brain Salad Surgery,” was stolen from his home.
Emerson played keyboard with the group Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. This is a $60,000scoot. Guess even the wealthy get ripped off.
VILNIUS, Lithuania: This AP story brings back memories from days long passed. To slowdown the traffic, the cops in Lithuania thought it would be great to set up woodencutouts of cops riding scoots alongside some highways. They seem to have pretty nastytraffic problems there, especially around schools and other high density areas. Wellsir, they tried that in the US once years ago, and the same damned thing happened: Peoplewent and STOLE the cutouts! Can’t say it wouldn’t be an attractive little item to own inyour garage or clubhouse, can y’imagine? Your own cardboard or wood cutout of a cop on abike?! I love it! Not that I’d be one to encourage theft, mind you.
GUNNY AGAIN: Remember as always that our Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (AIM) Attorneysacross this great land all RIDE and they know our world. Ole’ Sam Hochberg here has beenon all kinds of scoots since 1971, and he isn’t about to stop, either. These guysnetwork all the time so you aren’t getting the use of just ONE brain when you put one ofthese fine folks to work for your best interests. They are the people that care about usand take good care of us when we’re hurt in ANY kind of wreck, or in trouble. Be sureand consider their value to you when you need an attorney. Call AIM – Aid to InjuredMotorcyclists – at 1-800-531-2424, or 1-800-ON-A-BIKE, for good free advice. SamHochberg here in Oregon is at 503-224-1106 or toll free at 1-800-3447-1106.
THE WEBSITE: NCOM and AIM would like to extend a warm welcome to Hawk, from NCOM membergroup Sons of Liberty Riders (SOLR), as our webmaster, and he’s keeping that cyber-shiprunning ship-shape. Go point your browser to www.aimncom.com, or the new address, sameplace: www.ON-A-BIKE.com – either address will gitcha there. Hell, even this old dog haslearned some new tricks, and you can find ME by email at AIMGunny@aol.com, or email Samat SamBikeLaw@aol.com – let us know your thoughts or concerns about the Sack,motorcycling, or for more info on the upcoming conference – and I hope I’ll SEE YOU ALLhere in Portland, Oregon for our NCOM Regional, Nov. 2nd!! By the way, in the last SackI erroneously stated that the NCOM West Coast Conference would be the second weekend inNovember, and I hope nobody was inconvenienced.
Keep the round side on the bottom,
Gunny, Oregon AIM Chief of Staff
