Court Blocks Government Seizure of Mongols Motorcycle Club Trademark

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Court Blocks Unconstitutional Government Seizure of Mongols Motorcycle Club Trademark

March 11, 2019, 11:45 AM

ACLU

In a win for free speech, a federal judge soundly rejected “the government’s affronts to the First Amendment.”

More than 10 years ago, the Department of Justice launched an unconstitutional campaign of censorship against a motorcycle club and its mostly Latino membership. Now a federal court has decided against the government, sharply criticizing its overreach and abuse of power.

Under the guise of a racketeering prosecution using a law known as RICO, the government sought to seize the Mongols Motorcycle Club’s trademark in its logo and strip members of the right to wear their distinctive patch.

On Feb. 28, Judge David O. Carter rejected the government’s attack on free expression and rebuked its repeated “affronts to the First Amendment.”

The ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties challenged the government’s campaign from the outset, representing a member of the club and winning court orders to stop the government from confiscating jackets, vests, and other items from club members. As the court held in 2009 and again in 2011, the government could not seek forfeiture because it had charged only individuals and not the actual owner of the trademark — the Mongols Motorcycle Club.

The court also noted in 2009 that “seizure of property bearing the mark at issue would have serious First Amendment implications” because display of the mark “communicates a person’s association with the Mongol Nation and his or her support for their views.” The court found that to prohibit “speech of this nature constitutes an attack on a particular viewpoint,” which is a textbook violation of the First Amendment…continue reading

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