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Civil asset forfeiture is licensed theft and the thieves get to keep the money. Citizens should be fighting these tragedies constantly.
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Without ever being charged with a crime, a West Philadelphia grandmother had her home and her car confiscated because her son sold less than $200 worth of marijuana. Elizabeth Young, now 72, is just one of thousands of victims of civil forfeiture, which allows police and prosecutors to confiscate property, even if the owner has not been convicted or accused of any wrongdoing.
But on Thursday, more than seven years after her legal nightmare began, Young scored a major victory at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In a meticulous and unanimous decision, the court rejected the government’s confiscation, and issued more stringent safeguards for property owners. Writing for the court, Justice Debra Todd held that this ruling would ensure that “innocent property owners are not dispossessed of what may be essential possessions…without rigorous scrutiny by the courts.”
The sheer magnitude of this makes it hard for the ACLU to help. And its self funding on the police side, the more they seize the more they spend to defend it....
The sheer magnitude of this makes it hard for the ACLU to help. And its self funding on the police side, the more they seize the more they spend to defend it....
The ACLU mentions it on their website but doesn't say what they are doing about it, if anything. You call that doing their best? Simply mentioning the problem exists is not the same as doing something about it.
If this isn't a violation of civil liberties I don't know what is. You would think they would be all over it.
Moves and countermoves. Cities cut police budgets and cops cover the difference with legalized theft, until that's repealed. Raising taxes to pay cops that people now think are crooks is dead at the polls, so cops may then look for more covert sources of revenue.
Civil forfeiture is one of those issues where I don't see how anyone could support it. I understand how its beneficial to seize the assets involved in a crime but at least charge the owner with something first. Then if they are found innocent they should get their assets back or at least be compensated for them.
The sheer magnitude of this makes it hard for the ACLU to help. And its self funding on the police side, the more they seize the more they spend to defend it....
True, and lawmakers love it, any time there is easy revenue coming in they are all for it, constitutional or not, the problem is it is those same lawmakers that would have to end the practice, not gonna happen. This is something the Feds should force an end to or at least the SC, there was good reasons to do this initially but anyone with half a brain knew this was going to be abused, and it has been time and time again.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whoisdrugs
Civil forfeiture is one of those issues where I don't see how anyone could support it. I understand how its beneficial to seize the assets involved in a crime but at least charge the owner with something first. Then if they are found innocent they should get their assets back or at least be compensated for them.
What's even worse is if you cross the Mexican border back into the US, and they strip your car looking for drugs and don't find any, they don't put your car back together. Same when a search warrant is served on your house and they tear it apart looking for stuff and don't find anything, none of the damage gets fixed and no broken things get replaced
The ACLU mentions it on their website but doesn't say what they are doing about it, if anything. You call that doing their best? Simply mentioning the problem exists is not the same as doing something about it.
If this isn't a violation of civil liberties I don't know what is. You would think they would be all over it.
Do you support the ACLU? More than half of their funding comes from individual donations. If you aren't helping to support them, then don't criticize them because they can't be everywhere.
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