>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 for drugs, Illinois became the >13th state to recognize rock-and-roll-related decorations as sufficient >legal grounds for bypassing the need for a search warrant.
>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."
