Re: Have you ever been searched....?

[Samantha Levens <tangerene93@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Led Zeppelin Bumber Stickers now Probable Cause for Vehicular Search in 13 
States

SPRINGFIELD, IL--With the state legislature's passage of a bill last week 
allowing police officers to cite Led Zeppelin bumper stickers as probable 
cause for a vehicular search, Illinois became the 13th state to recognize 
classic-rock-related automobile decorations as grounds for waiver of a 
warrant.

      "We've known for years that there was a direct correlation between the 
presence of a Led Zeppelin bumper sticker and the likelihood of that vehicle 
containing a controlled substance like marijuana," said DeKalb County 
Sheriff Ronald Bauer. "However, it wasn't until last Thursday that it was 
within our power to act on this knowledge to make a drug-possession arrest."

      Illinois' action comes on the heels of the recent Supreme Court 
decision that the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable search and 
seizure does not require police to obtain a warrant if there is sufficient 
cause to believe the vehicle contains contraband.

      Following the top court's ruling, a number of states, including Utah, 
North Carolina and Wisconsin, moved to specifically name Led Zeppelin bumper 
stickers as a factor in determining whether to conduct searches.

      The decision, says Bauer, is supported by extensive data. Illinois 
state records show that in 1998, there were 362 cases in which a 
traffic-violation-related search of a Led Zeppelin-logo-adorned vehicle was 
found to contain illegal drugs or such drug paraphernalia as rolling papers, 
plastic baggies and metal pipes bearing a row of four cryptic symbols.

      Yet before the passage of HB 1921, ill-defined definitions of probable 
cause have meant that an officer acting on this knowledge was entering risky 
legal territory.

      "This is exactly what policemen have been asking for for years," said 
Bauer, who said the new law will precipitate a "considerable increase" in 
the frequency of drug-related arrests of motorists by Illinois police, 
especially in rural areas. "It used to be that if we spotted a car with that 
crazy-looking wizard on it, we had to just drive right past unless the 
longhairs inside were specifically doing something illegal."

      Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan applauded passage of the bill.

      "After the Supreme Court decision, it was just a matter of fine-tuning 
our interpretation of 'probable cause,'" Ryan said. "We've found that Led 
Zeppelin bumper stickers--or, for that matter, just the sound of "The 
Immigrant Song" or "Livin' Lovin' Maid" coming from an open window--is 
exactly the sort of smoking gun local authorities needed to establish a 
baseline for assessing that probable cause."

      Ryan continued: "When it comes right down to it, though, prudent 
officers have always, to a great degree, relied on common sense. If a 
vehicle, especially a late-'70s American-made sedan with a vinyl top and 
some rust, also bears a Led Zeppelin sticker, what are the odds the driver 
is not in frequent possession of drugs or alcohol?"

      Preliminary data seems to indicate that this logic is sound. In a 
Monday-afternoon field test, state troopers detained 100 Peoria-area 
motorists under the new Criminal Code 861.4/Section 8 (Probable Cause/ZOSO). 
Nearly 60 percent of the vehicles contained alcohol, drugs or drug 
paraphernalia, and nearly all contained suspected alcohol or drug abusers.

      Rockford resident Doug Wojcek, charged Tuesday with possession of a 
quarter-ounce of marijuana, was among those arrested under the new law.

      "I was minding my own business when some policeman pulls me over and 
searches my glove compartment," said Wojcek, 36. "It was just like when 
Robert Plant gets hassled by the cops in that one song 'Misty Mountain Hop.' 
Hey, what could I do?"

      "This is bullshit," he added. "What about the kids with those Nine 
Inch Nails stickers? No one is going after them."

      Despite such complaints, Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan spoke out in 
support of the law and advocated widening its scope.

      "We might have to add provisions for the search of vehicles bearing 
the Pink Floyd rainbow-and-black-prism, the Blue Öyster Cult symbol, or 
maybe even the word Ozzy," said Gov. Ryan, noting that many other states had 
already made these changes. "We cannot allow this law to become 
discriminatory in practice. It must serve everyone equally."