"Civil" asset forfeiture

[ewmayer]

Stop and seize: Aggressive police take hundreds of millions of dollars from motorists not charged with

Yet another one of the wonderful Constitution-flouting developmens of he post-9/11 NatSec state. They're not even trying to be subtle about it, either:

Cash seizures can be made under state or federal civil law. One of the primary ways police departments are able to seize money and share in the proceeds at the federal level is through a long-standing Justice Department civil asset forfeiture program known as Equitable Sharing. Asset forfeiture is an extraordinarily powerful law enforcement tool that allows the government to take cash and property without pressing criminal charges and then requires the owners to prove their possessions were legally acquired.

So much for innocent until proven guilty ... and the average amount of the theftcash seizure points clearly to a "revenue generation" theme, rather than "stopping crime" or "making 'Merica safe from terror":

The Post found:

There have been 61,998 cash seizures made on highways and elsewhere since 9/11 without search warrants or indictments through the Equitable Sharing Program, totaling more than $2.5 billion. State and local authorities kept more than $1.7 billion of that while Justice, Homeland Security and other federal agencies received $800 million. Half of the seizures were below $8,800.

The thieves know that under $10K simply is not worth fighting in court, and even when they do face someone determined to recover their stolen monies, they drag it out as long as possible - easy when you "are on the same side of the fence" as the courts - and extort a "no sue" agreement as part of any settlement.

And of course we have a LOL-worthy slew of lies by the thieves:

Advocates of highway interdiction say it plays an important role in protecting the public and that officers take care to respect the rights of citizens.

Which "rights' might those be, exactly? To not be shot in exchange for allowing illegal search and seizure of your car?

“We don’t go hunting for money in general,” said Sandy Springs, Ga., Officer Mike DeWald, who has served as a trainer for 4:20. “I never have been pressured to go after money. We are in pursuit of the criminal element.”

Right ... you go hunting for money specifically. Re. the criminal element here, I suggest looking in the mirror, Mike.

Police trainers said that their work has helped make the country safer by teaching police to be more vigilant in identifying drug smugglers and terrorists.

"We cured cancer, too!"

More on that "respecting the rights of citizens" - and check out weasel-wording (underline) by the "legal scholars", who also appear afraid to call a spade a spade:

Legal scholars who viewed the video of the stop told The Post that such practices push constitutional limits. Officers often are taught not to tell the driver they have a right to leave at any time after a traffic stop is concluded. But extended stops in which the officer uses psychological pressure on the driver without charges or Miranda warnings can cross the line.

And it's not just roadside cash thievery anymore:

Philly DA sued over $5.8 million civil forfeiture “machine:

A class-action federal civil rights lawsuit, filed yesterday by the Institute for Justice, a Libertarian-oriented civil liberties union, and the Philadelphia civil liberties law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing and Feinberg, accuses the City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office of violating the civil rights of thousands of Philadelphians who have had their houses and other property confiscated by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, in many cases without any criminal charge being filed against them.

[garo]

WaPo has a terrific investigative story running on how police all over the US is confiscating cash from innocent drivers on routine police stops and making them go to court and fight expensive battles to get their own money back.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/inv...top-and-seize/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/inv...-targets-cash/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/inv...e-law-who-won/

Stuart’s case is among 400 seizures from 17 states examined by The Washington Post to assess how the practice known as “highway interdiction” has affected American drivers. Their experiences, gleaned from legal papers and interviews, contain striking similarities that underscore questions about police power in an era when security has often trumped the rights of individuals. Many of the highway officers involved were trained in the techniques of interdiction after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, some with financial support from the departments of Homeland Security and Justice. The officers were able to seize cash and have their departments share in the proceeds through a long-standing Justice Department civil asset forfeiture program known as Equitable Sharing. Police can also make seizures under their state laws.

[Brian-E]

Here is Ernst's recent discussion on the subject from another thread. The subject is indeed probably worthy of a new thread to itself.

[garo]

Oops! Missed that. Thanks Brian and apologies to Ernst.

Without permission from Ernst I have moved his original post from the Police thread to top of this thread.

[ewmayer]

"See the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being forcibly relocated repressed!"

[TheMawn]

What.

The.

Fuck?

[kladner]

Originally Posted by TheMawn

What.

The.

F**k?

Pray don't trouble yourself, Sir. There are many humorous threads being woven together here.

[only_human]

I'm waking up this thread because I often see asset forfeiture stories that piss me off.

Prosecutor Paid Off Student Loan Debt With Funds Seized From Defendants

In one particularly brazen example, an unnamed Oklahoma assistant district attorney used $5,000 from a forfeiture fund to pay off their student loan debt, according to a state audit of local forfeiture programs published in 2013.

This violated existing law, because the fund can only be used "for enforcement of controlled dangerous substances laws, drug abuse prevention and drug abuse education," the auditor noted.

Law enforcement groups didn't appear bothered by this discovery, however, and countered that any change to forfeiture policies would constitute an unnecessary attack on drug interdiction efforts.

Civil Asset Forfeiture Victims Are Entitled To Be Made Whole, But Officials Try To Evade The Law

In one of its worst decisions of the last century (tough competition!), the Supreme Court gave its blessing to civil asset forfeiture in Bennis v. Michigan. In that astounding case, a car jointly owned by Tina Bennis and her husband was seized by local officials because the husband had had sex with a prostitute in it.

That made the vehicle complicit in the crime and subject to seizure. Mrs. Bennis, of course, had nothing to do with the crime, but a majority on the Court nevertheless said, “Too bad, but you lose.”

New Mexico Cops Bummed They Can't Just Steal People's Money Anymore

In a report on civil asset forfeiture abuses, Policing for Profit, the libertarian-leaning Institute for Justice found that for more than 500 police departments and task forces around the country, seizures account for more than 20% of their operating budgets. And it's not just the states; the Federal Department of Justice's Asset Forfeiture Fund has ballooned from $27 million in 1985 to over $2 billion in 2013.

But now, New Mexico cops are cut out of that profitable loop, thanks to Mexico's House Bill 560, which passed the legislature unanimously this spring and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. That law didn't reform civil forfeiture; it abolished it. That's the way it should be, said Farmington's Republican state representative, Rod Montoya.

"Should people's property be seized and potentially even sold without there being a trial and proof of guilt?" he asked. "No."

The police will have to learn to live with it, and not just in New Mexico. A similar bill became law this year in Montana, and one passed in Wyoming, only to be vetoed by the governor. Minnesota and North Carolina are the only other states that completely ban civil asset forfeiture, but the clamor for reform is growing louder both in the states and in the Congress, where a bill introduced in both houses, the FAIR Act, would restrict, but not eliminate, civil asset forfeiture. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is the Senate sponsor.

Asset Forfeiture Reform Activists Mobilize as California Assembly Takes Up Bill

Police chiefs, prosecutors don’t want money taken away.

These laws determine the circumstances by which the state allows police to seize the assets and property of people who are often merely suspected of crimes and often without their convictions.

The push comes after the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) produced a report showing how cities in Southern California were using federal asset forfeiture "equitable sharing" rules to bypass state regulations restricting how much money and assets police can seize and keep. The state of California permits law enforcement agencies to keep a smaller percentage of what they seized than the federal program. So, as the DPA's research noticed, there was a huge jump in law enforcement agencies looking to turn to the federal forfeiture program as budgets were cut when the economy turned bad.

[only_human]

Look at this twist: If you are arrested and your assets seized, they can take the money your girlfriend brings as bail:
Sex Work and Civil Asset Forfeiture Increasingly Go Hand in Hand
"Uncle Sam as über pimp"

To make matters worse, police say the $15,000 Ruiz's girlfriend put up for Ruiz's bond is invalid, since that money should have been forfeited to them already. Ruiz remains incarcerated. That's right: cops can keep you in jail indefinitely, without convicting you of any crimes, because any money you might use to get out of jail is assumed to be the proceeds of the same criminal activity they haven't yet proved on you.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by only_human

Look at this twist: If you are arrested and your assets seized, they can take the money your girlfriend brings as bail:
Sex Work and Civil Asset Forfeiture Increasingly Go Hand in Hand
"Uncle Sam as über pimp"

There is nothing civil I can say about these "forfeitures". This is strong arm robbery, and Constitutional subversion rolled into one.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by kladner

There is nothing civil I can say about these "forfeitures". This is strong arm robbery, and Constitutional subversion rolled into one.

SCOTUS currently has a chance to address some or all of this now:
Today at SCOTUS: The Sixth Amendment, Asset Forfeiture, and the Right to Counsel

Put differently, Luis v. United States raises significant questions about both the scope of the Sixth Amendment and the reach of federal asset forfeiture law. Luis—who has yet to be convicted of any crime connected to this matter—seeks to access her wholly legitimate assets in order to fund her criminal defense. She maintains that this is her right under the Sixth Amendment. The federal government seeks to stop her, arguing that the Sixth Amendment should pose no barrier to the prosecution's tactics. According to the federal government, because all of Luis' assets could be subject to forfeiture if she is ultimately convicted, federal prosecutors should not be stopped from freezing all of her "forfeitable" assets before she goes on trial.