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N O R T H C O A S T T IM E S E A G L E 2 5 T H A N N IV E R S A R Y IS S U E , J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 0 4
WE’RE ALL GUILTY
BY LARRY DUDLEY HIIBEL
A lot of people want to know why I went all the
way to the Supreme Court rather than give my name
to a policeman. “What’s so important about that?”
they ask. “What’s the big principle at stake?” When
the Supreme Court ruled against me (in June), maybe
some thought I was foolish to have done it. But I still
think I did the right thing and that there were some
issues that had to be decided.
The story began May 21, 2000, when I was on
a rural road near my ranch in Winnemucca, Nevada.
My daughter and I had gotten into an argument. She
was driving, and I was the passenger. We stopped by
the side of the road, parked legally, and we continued
our argument. I figured we would finish it out and then
cool off for a moment.
That’s when I heard sirens, and all of a sudden
a police car drove up. A deputy walked up to me and
demanded my “papers.” I asked him what the problem
was. ‘Why do you guys have me surrounded?” I asked,
because by now there were two or three more police
cars. He refused to explain why he was there or why
he wanted my papers. Eleven times he demanded my
identification. I refused to give it to him each time, and
he finally handcuffed me and took me to jail. The cops
threw my daughter on the ground, cuffed her hands
behind her, and demanded her name as well, but by
that time I was on my way to the county jail. I got there
at midafternoon and stayed overnight.
I hadn’t been argumentative; I wasn’t picking a
fight. Basically, when the deputy demanded my papers
— and he didn’t ask for them, he demanded them —
I didn’t say, “Hey cop, I’m not going to give you nothing.”
I just asked why he wanted them. “What have I done?”
I asked. If he had explained what he was doing there,
perhaps it could have been settled on the spot. But his
position was that he wanted the papers first.
Here’s why this was so important to me: I don’t
believe that the authorities in the United States of
America are supposed to walk up to you and ask for
DAVID LEVINE
WHAT TO DO WHEN
STOPPED BY THE POLICE
The Black United Front in Portland published a fact
sheet in 1980 to inform citizens of their rights when arrested
What To Do When Stopped By The Police was widely distributed
among both blacks and whites who taped the bright yellow hand
bill to refrigerators, telephone poles and dashboards. The advice
is bold, decisive and detailed, and especially since police shot
and killed Douglas Pollard in Astoria in June, is useful anywhere
at anytime for any reason police stop anyone.
Beginning with the statement, “Remain calm and polite:
remember the police are armed and may be nervous,” the main
points of what to do when stopped by police are:
1. Pull over as soon as safely possible. Do so in a well-
lighted area
2. Remain calm. Make no quick or sudden movements.
Roll your window down.
3. Place both of your hands in plain view on top of your
steering wheel.
4. Wait for the officer’s instructions.
5. Identify the officer by name and badge number.
6. Do not consent to any search.
7. If you have youngsters in the car, try to get out of the
car to transact your business with the officer.
8. Remain polite, no matter how difficult it may be.
9. Identify yourself, name and address; produce a valid
driver’s license and explain why you are in the area. Do not
volunteer any additional information.
10. Don’t let derogatory name calling provoke you. Don’t
be intimidated by the officer.
11. Don’t argue with the officer.
12. Be sure to bend your head when being put in the
police car.
13. If arrested request an attorney.
14. If arrested call a relative or a friend.
15. As soon as you are away from the police, write down
everything that happened.
-M P M c
your papers. I thought that wasn’t lawful. Apparently,
I was wrong; but I thought that that was part of what
we were guaranteed under the Constitution. We are
supposed to be free men and women, able to walk
freely in our own country — not hampered, not stopped
at checkpoints That’s part of what makes this country
different from other places. That’s what I was taught.
And it’s not just because it’s in the Constitution.
It’s something that you just kind of know. It’s kind of
obvious. If you haven’t committed a crime, you should
not be harassed by the police. If they suspect you of
something, I don’t see why they shouldn’t explain it.
I wasn’t violent. And it was proved later in court that
I hadn’t committed any crimes.
These days, it’s as if we’re all guilty until proved
innocent. You can walk into an airport and everybody’s
a suspect. Like the way people were treated in Soviet
Russia, in Red China, in Castro’s Cuba
We don’t want the United States to become that
I don’t have a super-clear understanding of the
Constitution. I’m not an attorney. I’ve never even read
the whole thing. I only went through 8th grade. But I
remember what I learned, and it seems to me that the
whole idea of “your papers please” goes completely
against the grain of the American people.
It’s not that I’m anti-law enforcement. Criminals
should be apprehended. But I don’t think we’ve got to
take everybody’s rights away just so that we can be
safe. If you do that, you’ve defeated your purpose. I
don't think people want to be protected to the extent
that they become slaves.
I’m very disappointed by this decision. I think
a basic freedom has been lost. What bothers me the
most is that my children and grandchildren are going
to have to live with this law. It moves us a step closer
to control of the people by the government, and I don’t
think that’s a step forward.
Larry Dudley Hiibel, a cattle rancher, was the
plaintiff in Hiibel v. Nevada, which was recently decided
against his case by the U S. Supreme Court. He wrote
this article for the Los Angeles Times.
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