Government Thuggery In Massachusetts And Beyond
George Will writes in the WaPo that the DOJ intends to seize a couple's motel -- the motel Russ Caswell's father built in 1955 -- because drug deals have taken place there:
The Caswells have not been charged with, let alone convicted of, a crime. They are being persecuted by two governments eager to profit from what is antiseptically called the "equitable sharing" of the fruits of civil forfeiture, a process of government enrichment that often is indistinguishable from robbery....Since 1994, about 30 motel customers have been arrested on drug-dealing charges. Even if those police figures are accurate -- the police have a substantial monetary incentive to exaggerate -- these 30 episodes involved less than 5/100ths of 1 percent of the 125,000 rooms Caswell has rented over those more than 6,700 days. Yet this is the government's excuse for impoverishing the Caswells by seizing this property, which is their only significant source of income and all of their retirement security.
The government says the rooms were used to "facilitate" a crime. It does not say the Caswells knew or even that they were supposed to know what was going on in all their rooms all the time. Civil forfeiture law treats citizens worse than criminals, requiring them to prove their innocence -- to prove they did everything possible to prevent those rare crimes from occurring in a few of those rooms. What counts as possible remains vague. The Caswells voluntarily installed security cameras, they photocopy customers' identifications and record their license plates, and they turn the information over to the police, who have never asked the Caswells to do more.
The Caswells are represented by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public-interest law firm. IJ explains that civil forfeiture is a proceeding in which property is said to have acted wrongly. This was useful long ago against pirates, who might be out of reach but whose ill-gotten gains could be seized. The Caswells, however, are not pirates.
Rather, they are victims of two piratical governments that, IJ argues, are violating the U.S. Constitution twice. They are violating the Eighth Amendment, which has been construed to forbid "excessive fines" that deprive individuals of their livelihoods. And the federal "equitable sharing" program violates the 10th Amendment by vitiating state law, thereby enabling Congress to compel the states to adopt Congress's policies where states possess a reserved power and primary authority -- in the definition and enforcement of the criminal law.
The wonderful Institute for Justice, defending the Caswells, writes about this here:
Keep in mind, the Caswells themselves have worked closely with law enforcement officials to prevent and report crime on their property. And the arrests the government complains of represent less than .05 percent of the 125,000 rooms the Caswells have rented over that period of time.Despite all this, the Caswells stand to lose literally everything they have worked for because of this effort by federal and local law enforcement officials not to pursue justice, but rather to police for profit.
How widespread is the problem of civil forfeiture abuse nationwide? In 1986, the year after the U.S. Department of Justice's Asset Forfeiture Fund was created--the fund that holds the forfeiture proceeds from properties forfeited under federal law and available to be paid out to law enforcement agencies--took in just $93.7 million. Today it holds more than $1.6 billion.
Are you quiet about the constant civil liberties violations we're seeing? Remember Niemoller's quote:
First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
That just makes me so sick.
nonegiven at May 21, 2012 7:08 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/05/21/government_thug.html#comment-3198655">comment from nonegivenThere is nothing they could have done to prevent drug deals on their property, in locked, paid-for rooms, just as the Marriott can't prevent prostitution or drug deals from going on in their locked, paid-for rooms. Merely by existing and doing business, these two people are having their livelihood and assets seized.
Amy Alkon
at May 21, 2012 7:18 AM
Thanks for citing this. This is why it's crucial to break one more government monopoly and create a market for privatized policing.
Andre Friedmann at May 21, 2012 8:10 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/05/21/government_thug.html#comment-3198682">comment from Andre FriedmannWe also need to take care to start electing lawmakers who care about civil liberties.
Amy Alkon
at May 21, 2012 8:29 AM
Take careful note of the article's description of how these things work: the property itself is accused of a crime. Of course, the property cannot defend itself, so a guilty verdict is inevitable.
Cousin Dave at May 21, 2012 9:46 AM
Keep in mind that if they did try to deny the use of their motel to obvious drug users they'd be charged with discrimination against the handicapped. Addiction being a "disease" and all.
Storm Saxon's Gall Bladder at May 21, 2012 12:34 PM
Share thirty songs on the interwebs, court says pay $675,000.
http://news.yahoo.com/court-wont-reduce-students-music-download-fine-144922490.html
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at May 21, 2012 4:29 PM
Thanks for airing these stories. Doesn't do much for my mood, but I'd rather know what's going on.
Michael at May 21, 2012 5:47 PM
So the government failed its responsibility to protect the Caswells from criminals who used their property to commit crimes, and now wants to ruin them for being unable to do themselves what the police were unable to do.
The drug dealers and the DOJ officials are just two different kinds of criminals, except that drug dealing, which should not be illegal, is not nearly as harmful or unjust to the innocent as the outright thievery of the government. The Caswells have been victimized by the criminals who used their property, and then by the government that was supposed to protect them from the criminals.
Sociopathic personality disorder: "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others." (from DSM-IV). This part of the definition is more applicable to government officials than it is to drug dealers, who presumably sell their products to people who choose to buy them.
Ken R at May 21, 2012 5:50 PM
Where is Captain Trips when you need him?
Jim P. at May 21, 2012 8:30 PM
Oh I know the place. They are leaving out one KEY fact. The state of mass puts many of the drug addled flesh wastes in that motel. It acts as a backstop for PRM's massive section 8 consortium. Caswell is forbidden by law to refuse to allow convicted crack addicts and their families access. Most crack heads are minorities SO anti crack policy ... You can technically drop out of Mass section 8 but once you have the section 8 reputation no one wants to stay there. Mass enticed them and many other mom and pop motels into the section 8 system during a few lean years now they own them. In this case it was when button wood park closed.
Vlad at May 22, 2012 12:12 PM
Thank you for posting this. For more information on this case there is a Facebook PAGE Friends of Russ Caswell setup. Please go like and share it. Post this article over there a well. There is a group of the same title but all updates and activity are being done on the page.
Thanks again
J.Caswell
j at May 22, 2012 7:16 PM
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