This Federal Program Lets Cops Seize Cash, Evade State Laws And Keep Over A Billion Dollars
http://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2014/09/29/highway-cash-seizures-civil-forfeiture/
From the article:
John Yoder and Brad Cates, who headed the Asset Forfeiture Office at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1983 to 1989, slammed civil forfeiture as a “complete corruption” and “fundamentally at odds with our judicial system and notions of fairness,” in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Thanks to civil forfeiture laws, police and prosecutors don’t need to charge someone with a crime to seize and keep their property. Yoder and Cates “were heavily involved in the creation of the asset forfeiture initiative at the Justice Department,” they write, but after seeing civil forfeiture become a “gross perversion of the status of government amid a free citizenry,” the two now believe it should be “abolished.”
In order to seize cash, police typically pulled drivers over for minor traffic infractions. During the stop, police would look for “indicators” of suspicious, criminal activity. Tinted windows, air fresheners, trash in the car, “a profusion of energy drinks,” “a driver who is too talkative or too quiet” and signs of nervousness have all been considered indicators. For one Florida sheriff, “cars obeying the speed limit were suspect—their desire to avoid being stopped made them stand out.”
On the grounds that a driver is sufficiently suspicious, police then have the authority to search the car with a drug dog. If the dog alerts (and there are significant concerns about their accuracy), police then have probable cause to seize property owned by the driver. After police seized cash, the government usually wins: The Washington Post found that out of nearly 62,000 cash seizures since 9/11, in only 4,455 cases—seven percent—did the government agree to return at least a portion of the money taken.
Vincent Costello was one of them. Driving down to fix up a home in Florida with his girlfriend, the two were pulled over in May 2010 by Deputy Mason Ashby for a cracked windshield. During the stop, Ashby claimed he smelled marijuana and searched the van. No drugs were found. But the deputy did find over $30,000 in cash. Ashby contacted another deputy, a member of a regional DEA task force. Despite the pesky fact that they didn’t find any drugs, police seized all of Costello’s cash.
After he hired an attorney, the government offered to settle his case. But Costello would only get half of his money back. With his legal fees topping $9,000, Costello kept just $7,000—less than a quarter of what was originally seized. “Why would [they] give anything back if they thought you were guilty?” he told The Washington Post.
Filed under: General Problems
A precedent! Its a start!
A department in the Deep East Texas area recently lost a landmark case, affecting all counties in Texas. Citizens now have case law on THEIR SIDE. Take down DRUG dealers, with proof and REASONABLE search and seizure:)