Civil Asset Forfeiture No More Than A Government Shakedown
“Cops are very aware of the civil asset forfeiture law,... It’s not that common, but there are a few officers in my experience who would do everything he could to get his hands on your car or motorcycle, especially if they knew it was paid off. They want assets that are free and clear so they can turn around and auction them off, but they can’t do that unless it’s a felony.... I have had what I consider some pretty damn shady experiences with local law enforcement in that regard,.. [and] I’m like most people. I don’t want to see an abuse of the law. I don’t want a law enforcement officer to just make a criminal case so they can line their pockets, so to speak, for financial gain.” - C Cleveland, Wavo attorney
There is an going Supreme Court challenge underway against the practice of civil asset forfeiture. The court could end-up taking some action to limit the controversial practice nationwide, a practice that has been seen as a growing assault on the private property rights of Americans.
Officers have insisted that it's a valuable tool that they need to help them do their job, but a great deal of those being targeted are innocent and are never convicted of any wrongdoing.
It's difficult to reason how an organization might keep a community safe if they advocate for violating their basic natural rights and treating them as guilty until they prove their innocence in court.
Civil asset forfeiture fuels too many abuses, it isn't necessary to “fight crime” and most of the victims of this policy aren't wealthy drug dealers they're just regular folk trying to earn an honest living.
Various lawsuits have been launched over the years to try and get back the property that has been stolen from many Americans under this shameful policy. Thankfully, a great deal of them have been successful in getting that property back for those individuals. The success of those legal battles further demonstrates that the state has had no justification in taking the property to begin with.
There may have been some efforts to cut-back on the confiscations but the abuse is still rampant today, too many people have been unjustly targeted under this policy.
Government shakedowns nationwide...
The public also seems to be in favor of civil asset forfeiture reform as previous polls have suggested that as much as 76 percent or more of people said they would vote for a candidate that promised to make policy changes newly requiring a criminal conviction before property is forfeited.
It's estimated that roughly 60 percent or more of Americans oppose the actions of the government to take property when there hasn't been any conviction or criminal charges.
Pics:
pic 1 - freetogether
pic 2 - KAL via the economist
pic 3 - last batille
I agree with you that its difficult to reason how an organization might keep the community safe if they support the violation of their basic human rights and treat them as guilty until proved innocent by the court.
One unjust act, the "War on Drugs," is used as justification for many more unjust acts, including "civil asset forfeiture." Only lawyers could rename theft and claim it's a public service. But then, people do already believe that taxation is the price we pay for a civilized society despite all the uncivilized things funded by taxation.
The idea, "innocent until proven guilty" seems to have died a long time ago.
Examples:
Posted using Partiko Android
haha where was that? I absolutely like that picture. what lens did you use?