In a sharply worded order, a U.S. District Court judge found that the federal government could not engage in “the very tactics it repudiates” by threatening to seize property from a motorcycle club member who had not been charged with any wrongdoing.
In a suit brought by the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties and assisted by the Consumer Law Group of California, Judge David O. Carter ruled that the threatened seizure exceeded the government’s legal authority under forfeiture and trademark law and violated the First Amendment free speech and association protections.
Please click below for a copy of the Court’s order and the release announcing the Court’s ruling.
1/4/11 Order Granting Summary Judgment