A family jewelry business that lost $42,000 when police in Indianapolis simply took it and kept it is getting it back. [More]
Remember when cops and robbers had definite sides?
[Via Michael G]
Tag: asset forfeiture
We’re the Only Ones Forfeiting Enough
Appeals Court rules state must return $225K seized from California man during Brandon traffic stop [More]
Will he be compensated for the time and money he has spent fighting this?
And what will it personally cost the government thieves?
Here’s the way the JBTs describe it:
Asset forfeiture is a powerful tool used by law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, against criminals and criminal organizations to deprive them of their ill-gotten gains through seizure of these assets.
“Criminals.” That sure implies they’ve been tried, found guilty, and sentenced, doesn’t it?
Someone with a better historical understanding help me out here: I found, on the Hawaii Criminal Justice Division’s page of all places, the claim that “The first statute authorizing civil forfeiture was enacted by Congress in 1789 as a sanction for the use of ships in customs violations. (Act of July 31, 1789, Sections 12, 36; 1 Stat. 39, 47.)”
If anybody has time to dig into this right now, does it say anything about them being tried and convicted first? I’m wondering if a Bruen style “text, history,. and tradition at the time of ratification” argument could be made.
[Via Michael G]
Always Think Forfeiture
We’re the Only Ones Unsatisfying Enough
“Georgia’s protections for property owners in civil forfeiture cases are already some of the weakest in the nation, and they were at risk of being watered down even further by the lower courts. But today’s decision ensures that law enforcement still must satisfy basic pleading requirements by alleging each element of a crime and the facts it believes indicate the crime was committed before it can seek to permanently forfeit someone’s property”… [More]
I thought that’s what convictions were for.
I’ve seen Leviathan, with unlimited resources, try to destroy a family by freezing their ability to pay for adequate defense. (Note: Many of the links on that page can only be accessed via the Wayback Machine.)
Sorry, fellas– no Leathermans for you.
[Via Michael G]
Always Think Forfeiture
The latest high court action came in a 6-3 decision in Culley v. Marshall, where the justices held that there are “no due process protections for citizens in asset forfeiture proceedings to have an early court hearing to contest the government keeping possession of their seized property while they await trial.” [More]
“6-3″…? The Democrats voted right and the “pro-gun” judges voted wrong…?
What’s a government with an unlimited war chest stripping innocent-until-proven-guilty defendants of resources to defend themselves have to do with guns?
Ask the Reese family (and you’ll need to use the Wayback Machine to access my old Gun Rights Examiner links.)
I wonder if the majority got new Leathermans…
We’re the Only Ones Unwarranted Enough
We’re the Only Ones Disinterested Enough
We’re the Only Ones Acquisitive Enough
A Mixed Blessing
Indiana Supreme Court Rules Property Owners in Civil Forfeiture Cases are Entitled to a Jury Trial [More]
Better than nothin’, I suppose…
The Catch-22 being, if they have property they won’t qualify for a public defender and will be forced to risk complete ruin trying to recover what was stolen… Meanwhile, the thieves get all legal expenses paid “courtesy” of unlimited hostage plunder.
I still want me one of them Leathermans…
[Via Michael G]
We’re the Only Ones Keeping Enough
A sex abuse victim is fighting Mint Hill police for $69,000 she says is owed to her. A WCNC Charlotte ‘Where’s the Money?’ investigation tracked down what the money was used for. [More]
For whatever reason, the story link provided results in “404 The page you are looking for can’t be found.”
Wayback Machine to the rescue!
Now 17, the high school senior is waiting for the Mint Hill Police Department to comply with a court order and turn over the $69,130 officers seized from her abuser. The department refuses.
Hey, “Always Think Forfeiture,” right?
If they’re going to keep the money, the least they could do is pay for the coffee, although with the way comments are going, it may be prudent to cancel future community social meets…
[Via Michael G]
We’re the Only Ones Pocketing Enough
FBI sued after allegedly losing hundreds of thousands in rare coins during raid [More]
That’s what happens when thieving bastards are used to getting away with it.
Finally, something I can agree with Jamie Raskin on.
So what the hell’s the hold-up?
[Via Michael G]
About Those ‘Swarms of Officers’…
Atlanta resident now owes twice the money taken from him after the government loses forfeiture case [More]
What was the history, text, and tradition on asset forfeiture without charges, trial, and conviction at the time the Founders wrote a primary purpose for their compact was “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”?
And even before that…?
[Via Michael G]
Securing the Blessings of Liberty, Just Like the Founders Intended
A federal circuit judge writes that Detroit’s vehicle seizure scheme “is simply a money-making venture—one most often used to extort money from those who can least afford it.” [More]
So I guess that means no Leatherman tools…?
[Via Michael G]
Eviscerating the Blessings of Liberty, One Victim at a Time
She successfully navigated the administrative process at the DEA, but when prosecutors filed a forfeiture action in federal court she missed the deadline to file one required piece of paper. That was enough for the government to take her money forever. [More]
Just like the Founders intended!
Unanimous consent, eh? In this case, getting Black Lives Matter to start an “Anne Milgram is a racist” meme would get them to back down in no time.
I still want to get me one of those Leatherman tools…
[Via Michael G]
Stand and Deliver!
Woods gave them permission to search his vehicle. [More]
What have we learned?
And so much for “the palladium of our liberties,” when most jurors might as well be sticking beans up their noses…
[Via Michael G]
Always Think Forfeiture
Trucking company owner finally gets cash seized through forfeiture [More]
He also ought to get damages. Paid for by the criminals who stole from him under color of authority.
And maybe a commemorative Leatherman tool…
What an evil, un-American practice.
[Via Michael G]
Always Think Forfeiture
“The government shouldn’t get to take your property if it can’t tell you what you did wrong,” said IJ Attorney Bob Belden. [More]
Nonsense. How else would they be able to afford to award each other Leatherman swag?
[Via Michael G]
We’re the Only Ones Who Know When to Hold ’em Enough
“The head of the Albany County Sheriff’s Office business office was charged with grand larceny and five counts of forgery after he allegedly siphoned more than $68,000 from the department’s federal forfeiture funds account and forged Sheriff Craig Apple’s name to cover it up,” Albany’s Times-Union reported last week. “Apple said he believes Cox was using the money to pay off gambling debts.” [More]
He just didn’t know when to fold ’em, when to walk away, and when to run.
[Via Michael G]
We’re the Only Ones Compromising Enough
Misdemeanor Gun Forfeiture Ordinance Reveals Hole in Ohio Preemption Law
What the Richmond Heights ordinance does is require a violator’s gun to be forfeited. [More]
Forfeiture law trumps preemption. So the city says it can take your gun if you’ve had a few drinks in your own home.
The New Intolerable Acts
Sometimes referred to as “policing for profit,” civil asset forfeiture has become big business, generating significant revenue for the state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies across the country. [More]
I wonder what men who considered a tea tax intolerable and cause for rebellion would have made of all this…
[Via Michael G]
