How To Steal A Car Without Going To Prison
William Grigg posts at RepublicMagazine about "asset forfeiture" -- a euphemism for "the government can find some trumped up reason to steal your stuff":
Here's how the institutionalized theft called "civil asset forfeiture" works in Washington, D.C.: If the police steal your car, you may eventually get it back - if you're willing to pay ransom for the privilege of letting a judge decide if the thieves get to keep it permanently.TheNewspaper.com reports that D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Jeremy Bank stopped Virginia resident Frederick Simms on May 29, 2011 for supposedly making an illegal right turn on Martin Luther King Boulevard. In keeping with the standard script, Banks [claimed] he smelled the aroma of marijuana. A search of the car revealed a handgun. Simms was arrested and his car impounded.
With the help of a public defender, the 22-year-old Simms was acquitted of all charges last December 7. However, the D.C. municipal government - which has one of the most flexible and abusive "civil asset forfeiture" statues in the American soyuz - retained possession of the 2007 Saturn Aura XE in the hope of permanently confiscating it through a forfeiture action.
Following his acquittal, Simms was told that he would have to pay a $1200 fee in order to file a court challenge against the seizure of his automobile. Spokesmen for the criminal clique that had stolen his car didn't bother to tell Simms that he could apply for a reduction or waiver of the "bond." After learning that this was possible, Simms attempted to apply for a waiver, and was told that he would have to get the application notarized and provide three years of tax returns. After doing so, Simms was informed that his waiver was denied, and the bond - essentially, a ransom demand for an amount he would lose if the thieves ratified their theft of his car - would be reduced to $800.
via @mpetrie98
Overheard conversation between two guys during an enthusiastic game of "Munchkin."
"If you woke up in the woods with your pants pulled down and a sore ass, would you tell anyone?"
"Uh, no."
"Wanna go camping?"
Patrick at July 17, 2012 12:45 AM
If only more people who had this happen to them went on shooting sprees in police stations
lujlp at July 17, 2012 3:34 AM
> If only more people who had this happen to them went on shooting sprees in police stations
100% agreed.
Cops, and government generally, are the enemy. They are thugs and thieves, and the only reason we tolerate their depredations is because we're all indoctrinated that they're the good guys...by the government run schools.
TJIC at July 17, 2012 5:58 AM
luj is a little extreme, but I see the point. If cops had to deal with repercussions of learned thuggery, then these things would be curtailed.
Patrick at July 17, 2012 6:13 AM
This has been a problem for a lot longer than most people realize, going back to the late '80s. There are some legendary stories of various jurisdictions along Interstate 95 (which runs up and down the East Coast) confiscating cars because the driver had "too much money", or because there were cinder blocks in the trunk, or because a dog alerted on an empty box. The way it actually works is: the police file a lawsuit against the seized asset. Not the owner, the asset itself. Of course, the asset can't defend itself in court, so they get a default judgement. It's Khafkaesque. And it was really the beginning of the decline and fall of law enforcement in the U.S.
Cousin Dave at July 17, 2012 6:38 AM
Asset forfeiture has become grotesque. decent due process protections were never in place, but now since it has gotten to a point where municipalities budget their takings as income, it is out of control. this is more common in Texas and parts of the South, but it happens all over the country.
It would be one thing if the property were properly impounded, but instead it is often sold off or put into government use long before their is any adjudication on the case.
OTOH, as wrong as it is in the drug war, it might be a thought when it comes to people who knowingly hire illegal aliens at half wages. Seize a few businesses and that will disincentivize that bullshit overnoght.
Just kidding.
Jim at July 17, 2012 9:30 AM
Lots of people get their own cars back by waiting for them to come up at auction-- notices usually get sent to the previous owners. The price might wind up a lot less than the ransom.
jefe at July 17, 2012 10:18 AM
Many police departments are nothing more than just another criminal organization.
Ken R at July 17, 2012 6:01 PM
Also along the I-10/20 corridor (AZ to FL) they have similar stories.
Another one is gun seizures. In states without a Castle doctrine, and even with, many times the cops will seize every firearm in the house, regardless that they are locked in a safe, with trigger locks, at the time of the call. Then even after the home owner is cleared, depending on the P.D. and D.A. they sometimes refuse to return the firearms.
There was even a recent Fifth Circuit ruling in favor of the the gun owner, but I'm sure it will take a while to percolate through the rest of the courts, D.A.'s and P.D.'s.
Jim P. at July 17, 2012 7:25 PM
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