-Caveat Lector-
Think a police state might be here now? What about that bumper
sticker on your vehicle? Is it the next profile?
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 Oyster 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."
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