First they came for the motorcycle club patches and I said nothing because I was not a biker. A Mongols Nation trial starts soon, with a key issue being whether the US government has the right to revoke the Mongols trademarked name just, because. The prosecution seems arbitrary, selective, and deliberately punitive. If the government wins, then maybe “Tea Party” or “Socialist Worker’s Party” will be next to be prosecuted for having a name deemed Unacceptable by the government.
Among such hideous crimes mentioned by the government were some Mongols armed themselves and went to a Mongols party, one Mongol was found with a whopping three grams of marijuana, and brace yourself for this shocker, Mongols raised money for a lawyer. Happily, the Constitution is on the side on the Mongols.
During multiple attempts to seize the Mongols membership marks multiple federal judges have ruled that motorcycle club insignia are protected by the Constitution in the same way that the Christian Cross, the Jewish Star, the Moslem Crescent, the Masonic Compass and other symbols are protected from government confiscation.
The key element in the current legal battle is a determination of whether wearing a Mongols, or any motorcycle club, patch is “harmful, unprotected, or otherwise illegal.”
From the comments:
The bad news is: The sole purpose of this case is to cost the Mongols a lot of money, which it already has. The good news is: A verdict that infringes on the Mongol’s First Amendment Right is going to be vacated on appeal.
What you think about the Mongols is irrelevant. The real issue here is the government is way out of bounds.