New York State Police sued for conducting motorcycle-only roadblocks
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Proner & Proner, Attorneys at law, have filed a Federal class action lawsuit in the Federal Court for the Northern District of New York against the New York State Police as well as New York State and county authorities to stop them from conducting motorcycle-only roadblocks near popular motorcycle events. Last year the New York State Police and county sheriffs stopped every motorcycle en route to twelve different events for "safety checks." With the riding season starting, the New York State Police expect to conduct up to fifteen motorcycle-only roadblocks throughout the state this year. The events targeted include Americade in Lake George, the largest motorcycle event in the Northeast.
Mitchell Proner, an active motorcyclist and personal injury attorney, is initiating the lawsuit on behalf of all motorcyclists. Mr. Proner said that the New York State Police "uses the pretense of safety inspections to delay and harass motorcyclists without any reasonable belief that any laws are being broken." Although courts have upheld DWI checkpoints as generally permissible, "These motorcycle roadblock stops are lengthy and do not address any legitimate safety concerns," according to Mr. Proner.
Mr. Proner alleges that these motorcycle-only roadblocks violate the motorcyclists' Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. In addition, by specifically targeting motorcycle events, New York State is infringing on the motorcyclists' First Amendment rights of freedom of assembly and freedom of association.
For further information please contact Proner & Proner at 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 1448, New York, New York 10165, (212) 986-3030 or on the web at www.bikerhelp.com.
About time! They will surely lose……..But with the Looney Left in charge you never know. We need to stop these actions. It would help if we were all minorities and then we could call it racial profiling, but I’m only a WASP.
We need more attorneys to challenge all the unconstitutional NATZI check points the police set up.If you aren’t visually breaking any law,they should have no reason to stop you ! They keep chipping our rights away a little at a time, Americans better wake up before all our freedom is gone. Once they’re all gone it will be too late.
I don’t know which is more disqusting; Police leadership’s ordering cops to do un-constitutional road blocks, or the cops willfully following these orders.
Following orders is not an excuse, breaking the oath to defend the constitution as all officers swear to do is criminal and all officers who do so should be charged and tried for failure to uphold their oath. Can someone please bring police training methods out to the public?
It’s Nazi not NATZI.
Calling them NAZI won’t gain you any sympathy no matter if they are wrong or not. Which they are. But the NAZI allegations don’t help anything. It’s American government abusing power.
At the center of the loss of our rights is the tired old saw “We must keep our kids free of drugs!” And even though this case gas nothing to do with drugs, every time that saw is pronounced, you can be sure more of our rights will hit the deck!
Right now, the police can kick down your door at three o’ clock in the morning, swarm in with a S.W.A.T. team, and terrorize every person within! No drugs? No probable cause except for maybe an “Anonymous Informant”?
OOPS! Too Bad! “But you should be thankful to our brave police officers for trying to keep our schools free of drugs!”
Tell me something! Can the cops keep the prisons free of drugs? No? Well if they can’t keep the prisons free of drugs, then how the hell are they going to keep the schools free of drugs!
Did he died?
You haven’t even gotten to equal protection under the law, which would seem to be the cornerstone to a case like this.
I was stopped at 2 motorcycle must exit inspection points by the NYS troopers.One on 5/22/09 Cobleskill, NY exit ramp off I88, for AM JAM. all vehilcles and bikes on one side. One at the rest area north of exit 17n, So. Glenns Falls, 6/5/ 9, a few exits so from Lake George Viilage during the Americade bike week event, Also by the NYS troopers, bikes only. I was passed on. Both times. They look for non enspection stickers and registrations and DOT helmets and loud pipes. I was back and forth from Lake George earlier that day so it should be going off the ramps like Cobleskill because it is an unsafe unexpected expieriance ive ever had, never in my life was I pulled off an exit or told get off. Im glad I wasnt a never rider there nervous enough. Maybe at intersections on secondary roads where bikes come from all directions. But I 87 during rush hour is dangerous., Where not truckers and we dont pay attention to small exit signs expecially if i was riding in the passing lane coming along side a tractor trailor in the center lane and not looking or expecting such an inspection point, Not every bike is going to the Americade, Im a professional driver and drive all day, Not a tractor trailer driver. I always keep my eyes on the road.