Denying Mongol members the right to display the logo would overstep the constitutional right to free expression embedded in the 1st Amendment, as well as the 8th Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled.
The Mongols motorcycle club logo is seen on a member's jacket at a news conference in Los Angeles.
In December, after a lengthy trial, a jury convicted the Mongols as an organization of racketeering and conspiracy charges, finding the group shared responsibility for murder, attempted murder and drug crimes committed by individual members. Calling the verdict the “first of its kind in the nation,” U.S. Atty. Nicola Hanna said seizing the Mongols trademarks would serve to “attack the sources of a criminal enterprise’s economic power and influence.”
The government’s pursuit of the trademarks had struck experts as a dubious if innovative gambit. While it seemed clear that forfeiting the trademarks would cut off the stream of money that Mongols leaders collect from selling patches and other merchandise to members, it was far less certain whether trademark laws could overcome constitutional questions and empower government officials to stop Mongols members from wearing any clothing with the potent Mongol image.
In 2008, nearly 80 Mongols members were charged in a sweeping racketeering case that included an array of alleged murders, assaults and drug deals. The charges were the culmination of Operation Black Rain, an investigation that centered on paid informants and undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who infiltrated the club's ranks.
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