FIRE SIGN

In West Texas, a man's land is his only as long as he doesn't go
posting signs telling passersby their constitutional rights.

Attorney Pat Barber was fed up with what he saw as excessive police
searches of vehicles on Interstate 20 outside Colorado City, a small
town (population 4,000) west of Abilene. So he built a 128-square-foot
billboard telling motorists whizzing past his ranch to "Just Say No to
Searches."

The sign also displayed a phone number to call for a recorded message
detailing motorists' rights when the police stop them. Unless officers
have probable cause to search the vehicle, they must ask the driver's
permission. But motorists often do not know they have the right to
refuse such requests.

"The state police were stopping everything that moved in Mitchell
County --it was like a roving roadblock," Barber, 53, told the Odessa
American. "It also offends me when I see an innocent, frightened
traveler standing on the side of the road with the police digging
through their mini-van," added Barber, who spent 10 years as Mitchell
County prosecutor.

The day the sign went up, county sheriffs deputies reported it to the
Texas Department of Transportation. The state DOT, in an almost
certain record time of four days, informed Barber that he was
violating the state's 1972 Highway Beautification Act, an infraction
carrying a fine of up to $1,000 a day.

The Texan took the matter to court, claiming First Amendment
protection for his sign. In late October, a local judge ruled against
him. Barber opted to take the sign down his own way -- by setting it
ablaze.

Now the sign is gone, but Barber plans to continue his fight to tell
citizens about their rights. His Web site, http://www.patbarber.org , is full
of testimonials from people thankful that someone wants to tell them
to just say no.