Allowing Cops To Keep Seized Loot is Unconstitutional

Associated Press ^ | Dec. 12, 2002 | John Curran

[weikel]

Good. Its not good to give the drug gestapo incentives to frame people.

[MileHi]

Something good out of Jersey. Who'd a thunk it?

[Wolfie]

I wonder what the Sheriff's Deputy's opinion of asset seizure was before she lost her car.

[Kerberos]

""Civil and criminal forfeiture is a legitimate law enforcement tool that allows police and prosecutors to take the a profit out of crime."

[from occupied ga]

The judge agreed with Thomas' lawyer, stating in his opinion that the seizures give law enforcement "financial interests which are not remote as to escape the taint of impermissible bias in enforcement of the laws."

OHMYGAWD!! A judge with the capacity for rational thought! I think I'm going to faint.

[weikel]

Im not generally a fan of democracy in general but I like the idea of law ENFORCEMENT being elected so I like the idea of sheriffs. The sheriff dep being a dealer was obviously in favor of prohibition as everyone with a stake in the black market is.

[fporretto]

Leaving aside the soundness of the War on Drugs, there are at least five excellent reasons why asset forfeiture must go:

1. It's based on the notion that one can accuse an inanimate object of a crime.
2. It short-circuits the judicial process and denies the means of defense to many criminal defendants.
3. In many cases, it violates the "excessive fines" stricture of the Bill Of Rights, which was supposed to preclude the use of trivial offenses to seize the property of others.
4. It often imposes entirely unjustifiable costs on third parties, such as Carol Thomas in the case mentioned above.
5. It practically begs for police and justice authorities to corrupt themselves -- to look for ways to maximize the forfeitures, rather than to enforce the law.

I'm sure I could come up with more, but it's still early and I need more coffee.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[Wolfie]

Hold on a sec...it was her son that was busted, not her.

[big gray tabby]

They tried to ask her, but she found one of her son's blunts in the ashtray and brought it to the Second Annual Asset Forfeiture Golf and Beer Outing. Unavailable for coherent comment, you know.

[IronJack]

Hurrah!

[apackof2]

the attention of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian Washington, D.C., law firm that champions individuals' rights,

Good old Libertarians strike again!

[weikel]

Right on as usual Fran.

[Kerberos]

"Good old Libertarians strike again! "

Yes fortunately we have one party, albeit small, who is trying to stand up for individual rights.

[from occupied ga]

Your forgot this one.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

[weikel]

You disagree with this? Asset forfeiture without due process of law beforehand is explicitly unconstitional and a bad idea for the reason enumerated by fporretto above.

[Sicvee]

This is a good outfit. They do their work in the courts, not in partisan politics. They are more concerned with property rights than anything else. They are definitely worthy of our support.

[FreeTally]

But the state filed a complaint against the car

The absurdity of asset forefiture and the total distortion of the basis of law could not be pointed out better than in this portion of the article.

Imagine going to the local prosecuter and filing a compliant against your neighbor's refrigerator.

[DreamWeaver]

Unconstituitional ? This is a laugh !! People never cease to amaze me. There are bigger issues of unconstituitonal liberties and freedoms of OURS being dissed.

If you allow ONE Constitional right to be broken, then just throw the whole Constition out !! This is what I call selective Constitutional rights y'all are willing to give up or to diss....

[coloradan]

I doubt there is a Constitutional right that he supports revoking.