September 17, 2003

Author and freedom fighter Bill Bish.

THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and is sponsored by the Law Offices of Richard M. Lester. For more information, call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit us on our website at <>

COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists

CONGRESSMAN CHARGED IN BIKER’S DEATH South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the deadly crash that claimed the life of 55-year-old Minnesota motorcyclist Randolph Scott when the legislator ran a stop sign at a rural intersection near Sioux Falls on Saturday, August 16. Police investigators determined that Rep. Janklow’s Cadillac proceeded through the intersection at speeds estimated between 70-75 mph in the 55 mph zone, and continued into the path of Scott’s Harley-Davidson without stopping, giving the rider no chance to avoid the fatal collision.

Janklow, 63, has a long history of speeding, and his driving exploits have been near legendary in his home state during his many years of public service. At one point during his 30-year political career, the four-term governor racked up 12 speeding tickets in four years.

Janklow served as attorney general from 1974-78 before being elected to four terms as governor, from 1979-1986 and 1995-2002, and was elected to the state’s lone House seat last year. During his tenure as governor, the pugnacious Republican was credited with elevating the Sturgis rally into a tourist attraction, and in 2001 he was inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame. In addition to the felony manslaughter charge, which carries a maximum penalty of up to ten years in prison and a $10,000 fine, Janklow has also been charged with failure to stop, speeding and reckless driving, the latter charges being misdemeanors.

The charges brought against Janklow represent the maximum allowable under South Dakota state law, and if convicted of manslaughter he would lose his authority to vote in the U.S. House of Representatives under terms of the House Ethics Rules.

NEVADA COURTHOUSE CANNOT BAN BIKER GARB A federal judge has permanently struck down Carson City Courthouse rules that prevented bikers from wearing their insignia or “colors” into the courthouse. The decision by U.S. District Judge Philip Pro finalized the preliminary injunction he granted last October against the First Judicial District Court in Carson City, Carson City Justice Court and other officials.

“It’s a huge victory for motorcycle clubs,” said Richard Eckhardt of Sparks, president of His Royal Priesthood, a Christian-based biker group that belongs to the Northern Nevada Confederation of Clubs, which initiated the lawsuit.

Eckhardt and nine other bikers were cited for trespassing at the Carson City courthouse on March 26, 2001 for refusing an order from court security officers to either remove their motorcycle jackets or leave the public building. They were among the 35 or more motorcycle riders who showed up at the courthouse that day in support of two Branded Few Motorcycle Club members who had been arrested two weeks earlier on the same charge.

The initial incident involved bikers Scot Banks and Steve Dominguez of Reno, who went to the courthouse to contest a traffic citation but were told by security officers that they couldn’t wear their swastika-decorated colors inside. They were arrested for criminal trespassing and their vests were confiscated after they refused the officers’ ultimatum.

But Carson City District Judge William Maddox told the Reno Gazette-Journal that while the ruling restricts a broad ban on wearing biker insignia into the courthouse, judges could still dictate what people can or cannot wear in their courtrooms. Pro noted in his decision that judges have the power in particular cases or circumstances to restrict what people wear.

“A judge is like the proverbial 800-pound gorilla who can do whatever he pleases within his own courtroom,” explained Richard Lester, founder of Aid to Injured Motorcyclists, whose group of nationwide civil rights attorneys were party to the ensuing lawsuit. Lester referred to a recent incident in Utah where a judge barred members of Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) from wearing their colors into the courtroom during the trial of an accused child molester.

In making the injunction permanent, Pro also granted summary judgment to the thirteen bikers who filed suit in federal court to overturn the courthouse rules, allowing them to collect legal fees and damages.

“The First Amendment is alive and well, fortunately, but people are still trying to attack its freedoms on a daily basis,” said Reno lawyer Don Evans, who represented the 13 plaintiffs. Evans is the Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (AIM) attorney for Northern Nevada and serves as legal counsel to the Northern Nevada Confederation of Clubs.

WISCONSIN “ANTI-HELMET” BILL HEARD Wisconsin State Senator Dave Zien is a long time biker, a founder of the bikers’ rights movement in Wisconsin and an active member of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists’ Legislative Task Force (NCOM-LTF). So it’s no surprise that when Wisconsin’s high court recently ruled that an injured ATV rider’s damage award could be reduced by up to 100% because he wasn’t wearing a helmet, Senator Zien stepped up to protect street riders from suffering a similar fate.

On August 26 Zien returned from a Guinness World Record ride through 48 states in eight days to testify in favor of Senate Bill 223, which he sponsored along with six other state Senators and seventeen state Representatives. The bill would prevent courts from reducing damages awarded in lawsuits based on whether the driver of a motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile was wearing a helmet when an accident occurred. The legislation would effectively nullify the 2002 state Supreme Court decision in Stehlik v. Rhoads that upheld a jury’s authority to consider helmet use in awarding damages, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau analysis of the proposal.

The bill does, however, allow the introduction of such evidence in cases against a helmet manufacturer for any alleged product or design defect, or to determine whether a helmet contributed to the personal injury or property damage suffered by another person. Wisconsin does not have a law requiring adult motorcyclists to wear helmets, but the court’s decision created its own de facto helmet law by penalizing riders who don’t wear helmets, said David Dwyer, legislative chairman for ABATE of Wisconsin. Dwyer told the Milwaukee Journal newspaper that the court decision penalizes motorcyclists injured in accidents, even if others are clearly at fault. Zien remains convinced that helmets contribute to accidents by reducing head mobility, vision and hearing. “I will go to the grave believing that helmets should be freedom of choice and that helmets, in my opinion, cause accidents,” Zien, an Eau Claire Republican, said.

The Wisconsin legislature repealed its mandatory helmet law in 1978 after overriding a gubernatorial veto.

“This legislation is necessary to protect those who ride and those who exercise their right to choose whether or not to wear a helmet,” Zien said. “Let’s let those who ride decide and not allow the court system to implement another mandatory helmet law.”The bill received a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy Aug. 26. The committee has not yet voted on a decision.

MOTORCYCLE SAFETY EFFORT NEEDS YOUR HELP United States Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) has introduced a resolution in Congress to designate May 2004 as National Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month, but your help is needed to get the measure adopted. Please contact your U.S. Senators and request that they support Senate Resolution 168, and make our federal legislators aware of motorcyclists’ overwhelming support for this effort.

Although virtually every state and major municipality has issued “Motorcycle Awareness” proclamations over the past several years, no such Congressional resolution has ever been passed to bring national awareness to motorcycle safety.

“Motorcycles have become a big part of the American landscape and occupy a very important position in the history of this nation,” said Campbell in introducing S.RES.168, adding that “As we continue to move through the riding season, I will continue to work with my colleagues here in the Senate and motorcycle rights groups such as the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the American Motorcycle Association, Motorcycle Safety Foundation, ABATE, and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation to find solutions to educate the general motoring public about motorcycle safety and awareness. This resolution is a strong, positive step in the right direction to help achieve this goal.”

Campbell has been riding for more than 50 years and has been a champion for motorcyclists’ issues on the federal level, including serving on the NCOM Legislative Task Force.

NEW YORK ENACTS “LEMON LAW” PROTECTION FOR MOTORCYCLES Governor George E. Pataki has signed legislation aimed to include motorcycles in the state’s “Lemon Law” protections against faulty and defective vehicles.

According to ABATE of New York, the new Motorcycle Lemon Law (companion bills S.4500 and A.5218) will give all buyers of motorcycles the same consumer protections that automobile buyers have. Montana passed a similar law earlier this year.

MOTORCYCLE SALES TAKE OFF IN JULY Motorcycle sales rose 20 percent in July compared to the same month last year, according to figures recently released by the Motorcycle Industry Council, as improved weather in the Midwest and East Coast spurred sales that had been stagnated by rain earlier in the year.

Harley-Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and other motorcycle manufacturers sold 99,634 motorcycles and scooters in July 2003, a welcome jump from the 83,034 units sold during the same time frame in 2002. Sales of “on-highway” models, a segment of the industry dominated by Harley cruisers, also rose 20 percent to 69,082.

Wet weather earlier in the year contributed to a 3.2 percent decline in Harley-Davidson’s first-quarter domestic sales, the Motor Company’s first such drop in U.S. sales since 1994.

WEIRD NEWS OF THE MONTH: NO NUDES IS GOOD NUDES The threat of scrapes and bruises, not to mention sunburn, didn’t stop the fledgling North American Nude Bikers club from holding its first rally over the July 26-27 weekend. Events at the Rock Haven Lodge Family Nudist Park near Murfreesboro, Tennessee included a barbecue, live music, bike games and a poker run — where bikers vie for the best hand by drawing cards at stops along the way. They don’t actually ride naked. Mostly.

“You’ve got to be real careful or you’re liable to get something burnt or hurt,” club Vice President Allen “Anchor” Turner told the Associated Press. Turner, 46, came up with the idea for the group last November.

Participants said the values of trust, respect and freedom are common to both nudists and bikers. “It’s all about living a freer lifestyle,” said Turner, who has been a biker for 15 years and a nudist for five.

When not astride their choppers, the bikers mixed with the rest of Rock Haven’s members and visitors by swimming in the pool, playing volleyball and soaking up the sun. Turner said he wanted to dispel the myth that the nudist culture was perverse. “This is a family park,” he said; “Anyone perpetrating lewd shenanigans in public areas is immediately booted out.”

QUOTABLE QUOTES: “The United States is putting together a Constitution now for Iraq. Why don’t we just give them ours? It’s served us well for 200 years, and we don’t appear to be using it anymore, so what the hell?” Jay Leno, Host of NBC?s “Tonight Show”

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