"Your Property Is Guilty Until You Prove It Innocent"
More on the civil asset forfeiture scam the Institute for Justice is fighting in Federal Court. This is a very good Washington Post video on how the police and prosecutors can "pull over the average Joe and rob him on the street." With no evidence that a crime has occurred.
There's a "perverse incentive" to seize cash -- "without a warrant or indictment" -- because there are kickbacks to the police and prosecutors' departments who stop and (this is sick -- legally) steal their cash.
They ruined a man's business -- watch through to the end to see how they took the capital he needed to keep his restaurant open. He got his money back, but it was too late for his restaurant.
Institute for Justice's free PDF, "Bad Apples or Bad Laws? Testing the Incentives of Civil Forfeiture."
I would advocate simply killing any cops who participate in this, were it not illegal to o so
lujlp at September 10, 2014 1:52 PM
killing cops would do nothing, they can replace them without trouble. You need to change the system. Requiring all confiscated assets be auctioned and 100% of the proceeds be applied to, say, the national debt, would be a good start.
kenmce at September 10, 2014 4:36 PM
This and eminent domain are much bigger issues than the number of comments indicate.
Property rights and predictable law are the basis of any successful society. When you don't have property rights you get the cleptocrocies common round the world. Nothing get produced and no one saves for a rainy day. After all you would just get robbed if you had something. Why not get drunk today?
Incidentally this also contributes to the american man-baby phenomenon.
Ben at September 10, 2014 5:02 PM
The Spanish Inquisition was finally forced to an end because it was driven purely by demands for confiscation. It got to the point people were afraid to do any business with each other.
Closer to home: Getting fined for a traffic bust is de facto tax payment. Being forced to pay a fine/de facto tax to a different county than one's own is taxation without representation, and should be made illegal. The argument that the other county services will take care of you in an emergency doesn't fly, since they still send an ambulance bill to your home. They certainly won't put out my house on fire.
jefe at September 11, 2014 8:30 PM
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