-Wisconsin Federation of Motorcycle Clubs-Official Website-Copyright 1992-2009

Disclaimer: The News Media does NOT always tell the Whole Truth ≈≈ It tends to sensationalize the News to sell Newspapers ≈≈ In Fact, Many Times the News Media gets the Facts Wrong!

USA - In My Opinion: By Outlaw Roadblock – www.FreeRoadBlock.us - The biggest danger facing motorcycle clubs today isn’t conflict with other clubs as law enforcement & the media claim. Not even close! It is a “tyrannical Gov’t” willing to selectively profile, criminalize & prosecute membership in a motorcycle club instead of individual criminal behavior. Profiling a specific group of individuals is a crime in & of itself. Furthermore, denying these individuals the protections given others is a violation of basic human rights & Constitutional law. Defending our clubs against this criminal threat requires using a weapon equal to that being used against us -- “The Legal System”! The laws of our countries are a 2-edged sword that cuts both ways. Gov’t agencies, law enforcement, & overzealous prosecutors are not exempt from the blade. Gov’t & law enforcement agencies are making a concerted effort to classify all motorcycle club members, & anyone who may associate with them, as criminals. Guilty or not, the Gov’t intends to prosecute theses targeted individuals no matter what it takes.

No one can deny that some motorcycle club members violate the law. However, it’s a fact that Any organization has individual members who commit criminal acts. Members of Gov’t & law enforcement agencies & individual lawmakers themselves are routinely convicted for criminal conduct. The agencies profiling motorcycle club members are being assisted by the media, who sensationalize biker news & reports to gain lucrative headlines. Via TV, newspapers & the internet, Society is bombarded 24/7 with motorcycle clubs labeled as gangs, & members & associates always portrayed as dangerous, violent criminals. How can this happen when the majority of club members are hard-working tax-paying members of their communities & have never been convicted of a crime? With this constant media barrage, society & potential jurors are conditioned to believe that you are guilty before the trial ever starts. With the constitutional guarantee of a presumption of innocence replaced by a presumption of guilt, even if you are innocent, getting a fair trial is impossible. Furthermore, the law enforcement agents’ & prosecutor’s questionable tactics almost guarantee a conviction. The combination of these factors make it easy to see why there is a 98+% conviction rate in cases involving motorcycle clubs & so-called associates. We have to use the system to stop the out- of- control Gov’t agents who think the rule-of-law doesn’t apply to them. The only rule they follow is “there are no rules.”

In books & interviews they boast there is nothing they won’t do to maintain their cover & make a case. In recent cases, evidence has been presented that undercover agents repeatedly violate the law to make cases. They conspired among themselves, with paid informants & known criminals in an effort to get club members to violate the law. They incited violence (murder & attempted murder) & incited others to commit criminal acts to ensure convictions. Law enforcement agents do not have immunity to violate the law in an effort to make a case. When they do they step over the line & become the criminal The US Supreme Court has ruled inciting criminal activity is a felony. At grand juries & trials unscrupulous prosecutors routinely lead law enforcement & other witnesses to give evidence they know to be false to get a criminal indictment. After all, trial juries don’t have access to the secret grand-jury testimony. Knowingly presenting perjured testimony, misleading the Court, & Obstruction of Justice are all criminal acts. This “pattern of criminal conduct” by Gov’t agents & prosecutors is widespread, & a gross violation of basic human rights. Properly used, however, this evidence of wrongdoing can educate a jury & change the outcome at trial. These issues & unlawful activities have to be challenged in a court prior to trial, or innocent club members will be convicted.

The Gov’t is now using these tactics against over 300 motorcycle clubs that they classify as criminal organizations. I salute those who are defending their clubs against this fraudulent classification. I wonder what the deal is with those who don’t fight for their club. Are they afraid because they think the Gov’t will retaliate against them? They are already doing everything they can to take your freedom & destroy your club. What more can they do? Belonging to a motorcycle club is not a crime! More & more Clubs around the world are using the courts to challenge the Govt’s bogus claims, criminal conduct & refusal to treat MC members as “individuals”. And, they are winning.

A Fed judge has rejected an unprecedented bid by the U.S. Gov’t to seek control of a gang’s name & its identity - via its logo - through a court order in a case involving the notorious Mongols motorcycle club,” according to the Associated Press report regarding an eight-page ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright, II who wrote on June 28, 2011 that he must “regrettably” rule in favor of the Mongols because the group itself was not named in a 2008 racketeering indictment. To summarize the Court’s findings, Aid to Injured Motorcyclists Atty Boyd Spencer of Pennsylvania wrote: Since the Mongols NC was never indicted, much less ever convicted of any criminal act, then the criminal forfeiture of the trademark owned by the Mongols Nation was in total error. The Mongols MC, or Mongol Nation, owned the trademark of the clubcolors since 1969. Any assignment made by any member of the club to himself or any other individual was void. This is because the trademark was a collective membership mark which can only be owned by the organization for which the Mark stands. Only the Mongols Club, or Mongols Nation could have a property interest or own the patch, colors, or trademark for the patch or colors. Since the Mongols were not indicted in the criminal action, the property of anyone other than the defendants in a criminal action, cannot have their personal property forfeited. This order, & the prior litigation that led up to this order, is a victory for the rights of motorcycle clubs to own, display, & fly their colors, without forfeiture by the Govt.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland has testified once again before a Congressional committee urging federal action to get motorcyclists to wear helmets. On July 27, during a reauthorization hearing on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Strickland told a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation that “the most important step we can take to reduce the deaths of motorcyclists on our roads and highways is to assure that all riders wear a DOT compliant helmet.” He further stated that, “A grant program emphasizing the use of motorcycle helmets would be effective in reducing fatalities.”

Last year, in response to Congressional testimony from Strickland that increased helmet use is the core component of NHTSA’s motorcycle safety plan, U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced a resolution urging NHTSA to concentrate on motorcycle crash prevention and rider education instead of lobbying for helmet laws.

May 31, 2011 Federal Lawmakers send a bipartisan letter to U.S.House Prohibiting Funding forCheckpoints

Federal lawmakers have sent a bipartisan letter to the leadership of a key U.S. House committee to urge support for a bill that prohibits federal funding for motorcycle-only traffic checkpoints, reports the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).

The lawmakers are also urging support for a measure to retain a ban on lobbying at the state level by a federal traffic safety agency.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and his colleagues sent the letter on May 25 to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure as well as to the panel's Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

The letter asks the panels to include H.R. 904 and H.Res. 239 in the surface transportation reauthorization bill now being considered by Congress.

H.R. 904 would prohibit the U.S. Transportation secretary from providing grants or any funds to a state or local government to be used for programs to check helmet usage or to create motorcycle-only checkpoints.

H.Res. 239 would support efforts to retain a ban on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) ability to lobby state legislators using federal tax dollars and urges the agency to focus on motorcycle crash prevention and rider education and training.

"These important pieces of legislation would ensure that the Department of Transportation (DOT) and NHTSA focus on proven methods of motorcycle safety," the letter said. "NHTSA's Motorcycle Law Enforcement Demonstration Program has not proven to be an effective use of taxpayer dollars.

"Through this program, the state of Georgia was provided a $70,000 grant to create motorcycle-only checkpoints to inspect rider compliance with DOT-compliant helmet regulations," the letter said. "The checkpoints are not a proven method of ensuring motorcyclist safety, and have certainly not been an effective use of limited federal taxpayer dollars.

"We take motorcycle safety seriously and want NHTSA to focus its safety efforts on proven lifesaving methods," the letter said. "Including H.R. 904 and H.Res. 239 in the surface transportation reauthorization bill would set the record straight, that the House of Representatives supports rider education, driver awareness, training and proper licensing as the best methods of preventing motorcycle crashes, not mandatory federal helmet laws."

In addition to Sensenbrenner, others who signed the letter include Reps. Tom Petri (R-Wis.), Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa), Reid Ribble (R-Wis.), Ron Paul (R-Texas), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Mike Ross (D-Ark.)

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