Motorcycle - Only Checkpoints Challenged - NYS

For all my New Yorkers it's about time somebody did something about this which was A.I.M./NCOM - ABATE of New York, I knew there was definitely some bullcrap going on whenever we rode upstate NY and this is still going on  to this day since 2007.  I will definitely keep you informed on the progress of this pending litigation.

Since 2007, the New York State Police, along with other county and local police departments, have been conducting motorcycle-only police checkpoints on the roadways of New York State, often targeting major motorcycle events. Authorities claim that the purpose of these stops, at which they issue numerous tickets for helmet and exhaust pipe violations, is to advance motorcycle safety. 

“Being a motorcycle rider myself, as well as the Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) Attorney for New York State, I was asked by ABATE of New York to contest this infringement on the rights of motorcyclists,” said Mitch Proner, who then advised the State Police and municipal authorities of his intent to file suit on behalf of ABATE and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists if the discriminatory roadblocks continued. “My letter was ignored and consequently, with the help of then-President of ABATE, Robert “Prospector” Boellner, I found class representatives to bring my action against the New York State Police as well as the other municipal agencies and elected officials participating in these stops,” explains Proner. 

In the first lawsuit of its kind in the United States, the NYC law firm of Proner and Proner is challenging the constitutionality of this unwarranted police action on First, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment grounds in the Federal Court for Northern District of New York. “The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that when a motorist is stopped on the roadway, there is a ‘seizure’ under the Constitution,” Proner notes, adding that “Whether or not this ‘seizure’ is unconstitutional depends on whether or not objective facts indicate that society’s legitimate interests warrant the seizure and the degree to which it intrudes on the individual’s personal liberties.” 

Although the lawsuit is still in the discovery stages, internal memorandum which police have been forced to disclose as result of the lawsuit indicate that members of the NYS gang unit are assigned to work the checkpoints and Proner thinks the Court will agree that the stops are designed primarily for law enforcement purposes as opposed to public safety purposes. “Rather than promoting any legitimate public safety concern, the checkpoints are intended to harass and intimidate motorcyclists attempting to attend motorcycle events thereby depriving them of their First Amendment right to freedom of assembly as well as their Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process, equal protection and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures” he concludes.