Civil Forfeiture - A really great way to make money

I think there is ample room for reform of civil forfeit laws in the US. These laws are not unique to the US, almost every nation has some form of civil forfeiture. Agencies should not be able to profit from civil forfeiture as is currently the case in the US.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

What a facepalm... watchin people on that video bein robbed by cops.!!!

If nuthin else... honest people are bein made aware to NOT carry cash that you'r not willin to be legally robbed of.!!!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Well they are not being robbed. They have legal recourse. But it is a pain in the ass and owners are deprived of their asset. It has unquestionably been abused and civil forfeiture laws do need to be reformed.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

They are being robbed. People who are being robbed have legal recourse - that isn't the defining characteristic. Usually people who are being robbed can call the police, though - that is a big difference.

John Oliver had my favorite take on the matter so far, Geoff's link in #19 has at least some it (I watch the show) - "Tiene mucho mucho dinero in su trucky trailer?" Holy crap.

 

No no, I didn't think that for a second. I don't think anyone would think you'd approve of that. And absolutely civil forfeiture has its uses. Collecting the vehicles and cash of a drug lord has a great attraction. But maybe at the least that could be in cases of outrageous certainty, after a finding of guilt, and - again - in cases of outrageous certainty. Because I don't know that the mucho deneiro in the trucky trailer really is connected to the commission of a crime. Hey, sure: maybe people shouldn't carry that much cash around. Seems dumb and pointless unless one is trying to dodge taxes etc. Then again, maybe they shouldn't be robbed of it by the police either.

 

Being asked about it would be the startle point for me - I really don't know how I'd respond. Probably depend on the tone.

But I've carried fair amounts of cash around, one time or another - especially in recent years, when nobody takes checks and the safety twenty bucks I used to carry won't evan buy a cab ride home after my car breaks down. You want to hand your credit card number to the guy selling you a used truck out of his driveway? I handed him $4,000 in cash. I carried it with me, as it happened on my bike - and I had been stopped on that bike (the Twin Cities cops were stopping people at random in certain neighborhoods then) - but it never crossed my mind that a police officer could even ask me about it, let alone take it and keep it.

The basic flaw is allowing the police - the folks taking the stuff - to keep it. Put seized property in the general fund, school budgets, bond retirement, whatever - but not in the police department's slush funds.

 

New York Times: Police Use Department Wish List When Deciding Which Assets to Seize

Welcome to the U.S.S.A.

I see this as an excellent example of the unintended consequences of using the initiate of violence against innocent people in order to achieve a moral good. That IS the State. The State is like trying to Rape your way into a healthy loving relationship. And, as the relationship deteriorates, what's the State's solution? More rape. Much more rape. As a matter of fact, if you're working for the State, nothing is better than a deteriorating relationship. Why? Because it means more money and power and, of course, more rape.

So? What happened here? How did we end up with Thugs posing as Civil Servants/The Internal Militant Arm of the State/The Police stealing your shit?

Well, it started in the early 1900s and a fraternal order of doctors who thought they deserved more money for their 'services'. But, in a free-market, society didn't reward them with the money they 'felt' they were due. Solution? The State. Slowly they used the State to monopolize the market until finally they grabbed the prize, which was Rx. Eventually they convinced Americans that THEY, not adult Americans, should legally determine what a s0-called FREE adult can eat or smoke (well, to be fair, they just passed regulations, it's not like Amoorikkans have votes in regards to how they are Regulated by the State). Rx monopoly would be hard to believe to people alive in the 1800s, but is perfectly normal to people alive in the 2000s. Normalization is nice like that. Anyway, once Rx was legalized, not only did the AMA reap absolutely massive profits (and still do) while providing lower outcomes year-after-year, but they also co-opted University's and turned them into Licence Factories (see any biology, pharmacy, psychology department - degrees now cost upwards to 6 figures, even though students are learning less and have access to less resources) and at the same time allowed the State to usher in the War on Drugs. Which produced the largest nonviolent prison population in human history (good ole' U.S.S.A.) amd the Government Slum projects / "progressive" communities where violence is medieval, that we're all used to (normalized to) and now: Civil Forfeiture.

See, you can't rape your way to a healthy relationship. It's not going to happen. Yes, healthy loving relationships are good - rape isn't going to bring one to you.

So? What's the Amoorikkan Solution to all this?
More State violence - lets see how that works our for us. The 0.1% SHOULD be in prison, but instead the State just bailed them out. And guess what? Bailing out and protecting criminals costs a lot of money - and the poor don't have it. YOU do though. So, as times get tight, the militant arm of the State you love so much will be coming to YOU to get it.

Expect more regulation, less civil liberty, more taxes, less services, and a total loss of privacy. And, even if you are 100% totally innocent, live your life as the ideal Tax Chattel, never daring to step out of line, if someone in the State likes your stuff: your car, they're taking it. Your new girlfriend or boyfriend - best hope she or he isn't the ex-partner of some jealous sociopath working for the State. A nice house? Oooo, that's not fair. A nice boat? Bye bye. Everything you own can be taken from you at any time, any day of the week. YOU have to prove you're innocent. That's how it works - and this is only going to get worse as times get tighter.

And remember, there's so many millions and millions of regulations and laws - you're breaking laws and regulations all day long every day of the week. Best hope you don't catch the eye of or piss off one of your State's Regulators. You piss one off and they legally or illegally put their boot on your neck and step down. It's that easy. You catch the eye of some sociopath working for the State, maybe they fancy a date with you, or your son or your daughter? They have access to ALL of your private information, they can put pressure on your employer, your family, you. Sociopaths are drawn to the State like moths to a flame.

You wanted a Progressive State - freedom is the price you pay. Yup, those 'free-markets' you hate so much, well, they're gone, so you needn't worry about them. But your life isn't any better is it? Expect it to get worse. Much worse.

YOU are your owners Chattel. Citizen OF the United Stated. Property. So, keep your head down, shut your mouth, be productive and make your Tax Farmers their milk and meat. Then go off somewhere and die quietly. That's your role as Citizen in Amoorikkka.

Enjoy the New Economy

 

The cops are going berserk in USA, killing black people in Ferguson, seizing money and claiming it for themselves without court, and now arming themselves with military weapons.

 

Iowa Troopers Steal $100,000 in Poker Winnings From Two Players Driving Through the State

 

"it might have been used for drugs" is the police excuse.

 

Except they are not, one of them minor details again. In your Mother Russia Putin steals money all day long every day and it's not like Putin and Russians are free of racism. Racism exists everywhere. And it's not like Russia doesn't arm its police with military gear.

 

we are talking about USA and how police in there are seizing 500,000$ just because the money is there. So stay on topic.

 

LOL

 

The USA is well on it's way to becoming a Police State. I see WAAAY more Police in the USSA compared to other countries I've visited and lived in. Heck, I hardly ever see Police in Japan. Very rare. In the USSA I had one just about run me off the road within 10 minutes of landing and getting a rental car. I passed 9 police in less than 10 miles along the highway. They were worse than mosquitoes in summer. Everywhere you look. Not to mention the NSA hoovering up ALL our personal data - even though this is unconstitutional. Not that it maters to Chattel Class Amoorikkka. They'll wave their Made-In-China "American" flags, stuff HFCS-pink-slime in their face and watch Dancing with the Dumb-Arses day in and day out. A more docile dumbed down sloth people this world has hardly seen.

 

What else do you like about America?

 

ummmmmmmm

ummmmm

ummmmmmmmm

Liberty and

and

Freedom

for

all?

Lol. what a joke.

 

That's what the country was founded upon.

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

 

the key word there is "was".

 

Fortunately the Russian model ends at its borders.

It's great when Putin suppresses dissent with executions, civil seizures and imprisonment.

But it isn't ok when others do much less, when the don't execute and imprison citizens who dissent.

 

man, lay off a little, this here is USA we are talking about and not Putin and not Russia, we got plenty of threads for that on behalf of joepistole with love.

Putin does none of those, there is a reason for breaking the law in every part of those.