Grateful Dead

I appreciate your viewpoints. BTW on the ACLU video, I do admit that the cop was pretty funny .. when he gets in the car and says "It smells like Bob Marley's ass in here" I had to chuckle for some reason that made me laugh.. but all in all, that whole car scene with the cop makes my skin crawl... "I've stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel. Can't win for tryin. Dust off those rusty strings just one more time. Gonna make em shine."

forgot to include, (and repearting from the ACLU vid) please be polite to the cops, do not raise your voice, do not get angry no matter what happens and NEVER, ever touch them. even if they unreasonably grab your arm or something like that, or push you, NEVER ever push back. you will be jammed up and convicted. even a mild, finger poke to an officer's chest will land you in the pokey. if they grab you, go limp. please do not react physically. playground rules of 'hey, he pushed me first' do not apply to federal offenses of 'assault on a peace officer' peace.

no frigging way is a sticker BY ITSELF legal probable cause for any search in my opinion.same same a dude wearing a tie dye or a giant SYF shirt whatever. and I really do not think it is 'legal' for the cops to stop you on that basis alone on the road or on the street. 'gang' colours is a bit different, and also a bit shakey legally in my opinion, but in Cali or elsewhere, i know it been used for street stops and held up in court-- in high crime areas, it is not like the cops are going into the Fast Times at Ridgemont Mall and stopping and frisking suburban teens who just are dressing up like their favourite gangsta. back on stickers: I DO remember hearing about some NCIC guidelines that cops use them to that end, (stopping a car) though I never seen it in print. it would be shakey legal grounds, if that was the 'sole' basis for the stop. thing is, especially on the highways, most of the time, tthey are stopping you for something real, like speeding or a broken tail-light, weaving in traffic, carelss driving, whatever. when I used to live on the east coast, I-95 was/is a major route from Florida up to NYC for the smugglerrs. back about 15-20 years back, I rmember reading about some NJ state troops who got in trouble for stopping car loads of hispanic/black people. This was some 'guideline' they had in their general policies. as i remember, they (both the road cops and the policy makers) were 'reprimanded' but not fired. racial profiling and now deadhead profiling?? sheesh! all that said, and unfortunately the stuff in the video wont work with a cop who is 'rogue'. all they have to do is lie in court and say they saw some plastic bag or smelt something -- which of course, I could tell you dozens of stories of firsthand accounts like that I've heard over the years. who will the judge believe in court? unfortunately this shit goes on all the time. my old lady and I was talking about this the other day after we watched that ACLU vid, and she was saying, 'how about I ask the cop to record, either video or audio, the full conversation? or record it secretly?' I said that may all be well and good, but it won't stop some bad fuzz from later testifying in court that they glanced through the window and saw some plastic bag with something on the floor of the car... whether they found it under the seat or in your pocket don't matter. even heard plenty of stories about fuzz who illegally opened trunks and later said the bag of whatever was sitting on the back seat in plain view while tehy was testifying in court. all that said, i do think the vast majority of cops are honest. and unless you become an 'attitude' problem, they wont break the law themselves for a petty arrest. if you are fool enough too have distribution weight on you or in your car, God help you. I think the thing to take away from the video is to be careful not to be 'tricked' into giving consent for any personal or vehicle search and to stand your ground about that, and to never let the cops into your house under any circumstances. if they come to your door for any reason (without a warrent) keep the window closed and shout through it while holdding your hands in the air, or tell them to call you on the phone. NEVER admit you did anything wrong, and shut your mouth and say nothing if they ask you questions which will incriminate you. finally, PLEASE keep your private things in the trunk, and don't be stupid while on the road. wait until you get where you are going to spark up or whatever. remember how Garcia got busted in GGP because the cop smelled something 'burning'? man, Garcia must have been at a real low if he couldn7t wait until he got home to fix. sad. even people who only drink, shit, wait until you get there before opening the beer. even if you really do not have anything to hide, and your pad and blood and urine and hair is totally clean, this is not about what you do, this is about personal freedom and laws against unreasonable stops/searches. I've refused to empty my pockets after being patted down, because they have no right to do that if I am not under arrest. (laws are state by state, that one) they can pat you down looking for a weapon, ok, fair enough, but no way am I showing them that I have intestine problems and need to eat Tums like they are gum drops. most real perps (read traffickers and real criminals) are DUMB. and most do aggree to the searches wether they realize it or not, and hence, the searches are legal. keep in mind, the 2 places you do not have any civil liberties at all; any domestic airport security and any international border. once in the control area, you can not walk away and say, ok I am leaving now... I think i mentioned earlier somewhere, it is legal for venue private security to search you as a pre-condition of entry to private property, but you can walk away from that before they search you. once inside, you can refuse to be searched by private security, but that will mean you have to leave the show immediately. don't be a mook, don't get busted by being 'fooled' or intimidated into an illegal search of your car, person, or home. peace.

The debate here on dead.net about Dead stickers on one's car and that in some states it is legal to be pulled over for simply having such stickers. Ok fine, I'm pulled over, but you are certainly not searching my car solely on the basis that I have a Dead sticker stuck to my window. Lets ask this question again - Are Dead stickers probable cause for a vehicle search in some states? Not a visible pipe or bag of dope but just a plain old steal your face sticker. And if so, please tell which states. Its just shocking to me to think that could be true even for places like Utah (no offense to Utah, beautiful state but the laws are a bit too facist for my taste). "I've stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel. Can't win for tryin. Dust off those rusty strings just one more time. Gonna make em shine."

what I really dug was the lock the door of the car before getting out thing. and the reply as to why: 'habbit.' I used to have padlocks on the leather saddle bags on the hog, when asked to open them by some cop skirting the rules of law, while stopped, I'd just smile and said, 'habeous corpus, officer, there is no key' one redneck cop asked me what that meant, I said, it means "shucks" peace.

spread it around early and often--I don't remember where I got it in the first place! And yeah, be careful out there...

thanks should go to mary, guys. she posted a similar link in the burning man thread first. peace.

I wish i would have thought of some of that like 30 years ago . good to know now for sure. you younger folks need to remember all this !!

Valuable stuff! "I've stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel. Can't win for tryin. Dust off those rusty strings just one more time. Gonna make em shine."

PLEASE watch and please remember,