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Eye On Boise

Group seeks to halt ‘motorcycle profiling’

Robert
Robert "Hatter" Hatten of ABATE participates in a day of outreach to lawmakers by the motorcyclists' group (Betsy Z. Russell)

Idaho members of ABATE, a motorcyclists group, are at the Capitol today to reach out to lawmakers in an effort to get legislation enacted to ban “motorcycle profiling,” which the group defines as targeting of motorcyclists by law enforcement solely because they’re motorcyclists or wear motorcycle-related paraphernalia.

Robert “Hatter” Hatten of New Plymouth, sergeant-at-arms for the group, said they know they won’t get their bill passed this year, but they’re hoping to educate lawmakers about it and work toward passing something next year. “We’ve tried to speak to as many as we could,” Hatten said; more than two dozen ABATE members are here today, many meeting with their local lawmakers. Hatten said the group’s proposed legislation is patterned after a 2011 law passed in Washington, and includes addressing the issue during training for law enforcement officers.

A packet distributed to lawmakers says, “Motorcycle profiling is unconstitutional. Profiling relies on appearance to establish suspicion as opposed to the legal requirement of conduct. This amounts to discrimination of a class defined by protected expression and association.” 



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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