ChinaRider420

Hey I grabbed this from phishhook, who grabbed it from the rainbows, so sorry about the goofy rainbow talk thats included. I thought it was interesting and extremely informative, might wanna put this at the top for people or something.

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Rap 420

This rap sheet has been prepared to help you stay out of jail. In the past,
rainbow gatherings have been the target of unjustified
police influence and harassment, often illegal. Many of the brothers and
sisters that have been arrested in the past could have
completely avoided wasted jail time and expensive court dates if they had
just known a few of their basic rights. This rap sheet
is a tool. Read and understand it and next time YOU will have the upper
hand in the situation.

ROADBLOCKS (DUI CHECKPOINTS, ETC.)

When heading to a gathering, ALWAYS assume you will run into a roadblock on
the way in. It is very important that you know
your rights before reaching the roadblock because this is where most of the
coercive tactics and encroachments of rights will
take place.

Law enforcement officers are trained to intimidate people into consenting
to searches. You may be asked SEVERAL times
during the detention if they can search your car or person. ALWAYS refuse
and you?ll be fine. The only legal reason they have
to search you without arrest is that they feel they are in danger of being
attacked which should not be an issue with rainbows.

If you do find yourself under arrest for any reason, always exercise your
right to silence. Continue to refuse to allow any
searches and politely inform them that you will not say anything until your
attorney is present.

A.Your driver's license, registration and proof of insurance should be
legal and accessible. You will sometimes need all
three as the requirement laws vary from state to state. Always assume
that you need all three and you'll never have a
problem.

B.Your car must be road-legal. No broken tail-lights,
windshields,headlights, etc. You will be cited for these.

C.Never leave anything in "plain view." Anything inside the car that is
visible to the officer is considered to be in "plain
view." Although this does not give them the right to search your car,
they can confiscate the item and place you under
arrest. They will still need to obtain a warrant to search the rest of
your car which will not be very hard if they found
something in plain view.
D.Never consent to a search of your body or your vehicle. This is your
fourth amendment. The only reason they would ask
is that they do not have enough evidence to obtain a search warrant
(or they may just be too lazy to get one). JUST
SAY NO!!

At rainbow gatherings in the past, officers have been known to plant
drugs in cars after consent to search is given. You
can avoid this problem by refusing to consent.

E.If you are harassed or mistreated, write down all the information you
can about the incident. The officer's county, name,
rank, badge number, etc. Date, time of day, location, etc. Contact one
of the organizations listed at the end of this
document to pursue the matter or just file a complaint with that
officer's superior.

OTHER POLICE CONTACT

It is important to remember a few things about police officers. One is that
they are aware of your rights and they have been
known to intentionally violate them. If you find yourself in a situation
with an officer who is out of control, it is best to be
submissive in order to avoid injury or even death. Remember that THEY are
ARMED AND DANGEROUS!

If you are stopped by an officer outside of a vehicle, your contact with
him/her will fall into three categories. Consensual
contact, detention or arrest. We are mainly concerned with consensual
contact and detention as this document is intended to
help you in NOT GETTING ARRESTED.

CONSENSUAL CONTACT

Consensual contact means the officer comes up to you and says, Can I speak
with you?" If you say "yes," you have consented
to have contact with the police. This is not good. When you consent to
contact, you waive some of your rights especially if you
think you may be guilty of something. NEVER consent to speak with an officer.

If the officer asks, "can I talk to you," reply with something like "I'm
sorry, I'm in a hurry and don't have time to talk to you right
now." If he/she insists, ask, "Are you detaining me? Am I free to leave?"
You should ask this several times to make sure the
officer will remember you asking if the encounter results in an arrest and
court case. If it is really a consensual contact, the
officer is required to let you go on your way if you ask to. If you don't
verbally ask to leave, the court will presume you
consented to whatever follows.

DETENTION

The police are only allowed to detain citizens when there are "specific and
articulable facts supporting suspicion" (SAF) that
you are involved in criminal activity.

This means they can't detain you on a "hunch." They must have observed
something about your behavior or character that links
you with specific criminal activity. If you are detained without SAF, you
are detained illegally. If this matter ever lands in court,
you may be able to get off because the original detention on their part was
illegal.

When you use terms like "detention" and "specific and articulable facts?,
the officer will usually back down a bit. The majority of
a police officer?s power in the united states comes from intimidation and
prey on the public?s ignorance of its own rights.

It is crucial that you let the officer know that you are not consenting to
talk with him and that the only way you will talk to him is
if he detains you which he can not do without SAF.

ARREST

If you find yourself under arrest, there's not much left you can do. You
are going to be searched. It is important to continue
refusing consent to search your vehicle (if there is one involved) as they
will still need a search warrant to search your vehicle.
This, however, will not be difficult to obtain now that you are under arrest.

By refusing to consent to a search of your vehicle, though, you are
maintaining your position. They may get impatient and search
the vehicle without a warrant which is completely illegal. If this happens,
anything they find in the vehicle will not be accepted by
the court because it was evidence obtained illegally.

Those are the basics rights you have when involved with the police. By
exercising these rights and using a little common sense,
you should be able to have a safe and happy gathering. Below are some legal
contacts you may find yourself in need of if
placed under arrest.

For everyday police harassment, call COPWATCH at 510/548-0425.

If you feel your rights were violated or that you are being charged
unjustly, contact the National Office of The American Civil
Liberties Union at 132 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. or call
212-944-9800.

Love your brothers & sisters with guns even when they are misguided.

Know your rights. Spread the light.