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Hell's Angels File Civil Rights Complaint Against New Jersey State Police - Caruana v. Kilmurray, 13-4286

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"Hells Angels have taken the New Jersey State Police to court, alleging troopers engage in a "campaign" to "intimidate, harass, threaten and deprive" them of their constitutional rights.

"The suit, Caruana v. Kilmurray, 13-4286, now in federal court in Trenton, claims the state police violated members’ equal protection, free speech and due process rights and the New Jersey Civil Rights Act.

"Plaintiff[s'] attorney Dean Maglione of Newark says that when the motorcycle club holds a gathering, troopers station themselves outside and take pictures, which is intimidating.

"The suit also cites a number of incidents of alleged harassment.

"One is a July 2011 police stop on the New Jersey Turnpike in South Brunswick, when nine members, accompanied by two prospects, were wearing their easily identifiable emblem, a winged skull. The group was detained for about 45 minutes and frisked and two of them were handcuffed for 25 minutes. Nine were issued tickets for speeding and failure to keep right."

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"[This] is the second suit in which motorcycle club members accuse state police of constitutional violations. In Coles v. Carlini, 10-6132, members of the Pagans and Tribe motorcycle clubs sued over a traffic stop in which troopers allegedly ordered them to cover up their emblem. That suit, filed in federal court in Camden in 2010, is in discovery."

More after the jump...