New Mexico Ended Civil Asset Forfeiture. Why Then Is It Still Happening?

NPR ^ | MARTIN KASTE Twitter

[dware]

if LE is stealing what is yours

In this case, they were not "stealing" the car. They impounded it for evidence, which is perfectly legal, standard operating procedure, and would be held up in court.

[LegendHasIt]

Thanks for the ping Dave.
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So, despite the law, will our local brownshirts soon be getting these machines like our neighbors in Oklahoma use to steal the money out of debit cards during a traffic stop?

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I really miss that old Constitution thingie.

[Carthego delenda est]

Snip: “Democratic state Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto says he’s open to tweaking the details, but the main goal of the law should remain in place.”

DANIEL IVEY-SOTO: “What I don’t want want is for law enforcement to be put in a position, which I think is unfair position. And that is where they end up having to seize property and sell it to make their budget.”

Leave it to a frigging democrat law maker to see the cops as the victims in all this. It’s just so “unfair” to the cops that they’re forced to steal citizen’s property in order to pay themselves. Argh!!!

The ONLY reason this car is being held as ‘evidence’, along with many many others, is because they intend to sell it IF they can get a conviction. There is absolutely NO OTHER REASON to hold on to this car owned by a third party. What’s the prosecution going to do? Take the jury out to the impound lot and show them a car sitting there and say “yep, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you this piece of crap car that the mechanic was driving”? Or is the prosecutor going to have the car driven into the courtroom just so the jurors can see it? Heck no! A simple photograph will suffice. The cops are holding it ONLY because they hope to steal it (now that this asset forfeiture is criminal) and sell it to pay for their salaries. This is the sort of crap that goes on in turd world countries, but this is New Mexico, so I repeat myself.

I applaud the efforts of Senator Lisa Torraco in pushing to get this legislation passed, as well as representing the family who has had their car stollen by the police. I had lunch with Senator Torraco a while back and she’s exactly the type of person we need in government here to help clean New Mexico up!!!

[zeugma]

Which is why anymore when I hear a cop gets killed I go “Meh...”

No big deal or great loss to me. I’ve lost ALL respect for ‘em.

You and I are on the exact same wavelength on this. I couldn't care less about them any more. What the hell should I care if a tax collector dies?

[generally]

Exactly. And the number one interest of the government is taking money and assets away from citizens.

[Carthego delenda est]

I like your tagline.... a lot! Many Christians just want to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to the devil and all his minions.

I’m of the opinion that our nation would prolly be best served if all police departments were disbanded and the sheriff’s department was the only law enforcement for every county.

BTW, welcome to FreeRepublic!

[Glad2bnuts]

What law was broken, and how can the vehicle be evidence? If the guy had stolen a police cruiser, would they then take it out of the motor pool until the case was adjudicated? NO, they would not. They would take an affidavit, a couple of pictures and put it back in service. That is precisely what they should have done AT THE OWNERS CONVENIENCE.