Holder limits seized-asset sharing process that split billions w/ local, state police

[_CY_]

Finally ... a bill introduced that would switch burden of proof of property seized. if cops can prove property seized was illegally gotten, then they get to keep .. not the other way around.

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Property seized from innocent people during drug busts would be affected by new bill
Authorities can keep everything seized in drug cases, raising property rights concerns

Nov. 5, 2015

Two bills making their way through the Ohio statehouse would make it more difficult for law enforcement to keep cash and other property owned by innocent people that is seized during drug busts.

Current law allows police to take anything during an investigation that, in their view, has a connection to criminal activity. Capt. Mike Brem of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said cash in drug investigations often is targeted because that is the best way to go after drug dealers.

+Bill could lessen cops’ power in civil forfeiture cases

Urbana police seized what was described as “bulk” heroin and cocaine, marijuana and a large sum of cash, including this sample, ... read more

“Whether it’s a mid-level drug trafficker or a high-level drug trafficker, our goal is to put ripples in that supply chain,” Brem said. “And by that we want to cut off their funding. So we’re not only taking their drugs, we are also taking the money going back to the cartels.”

The Buckeye Institute, a Columbus-based libertarian think tank, estimated that $80 million has been forfeited statewide over the past decade.

Unlike criminal cases in which prosecutors must prove guilt, the burden of proof in these civil forfeiture cases is on property owners. They must prove that their cash or car was not obtained illegally.

Losing your property to the government

Rep. Robert McColley, R-Napoleon, introduced a bill in late September to switch the burden of proof. Rep. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, signed on as a co-sponsor.

“All we are trying to do is tell law enforcement that the burden is on them to prove that the property that they are seizing is part of a crime,” Antani said. “If it is, then they can keep it. If it is not, they have to return it to its rightful owner.

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/ne...essen-cops-power-in-civil-forfeiture-c/npG5f/

 

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Police Civil Asset Forfeitures Exceed All Burglaries in 2014
November 17, 2015

Police-Forfeiture

Between 1989 and 2010, U.S. attorneys seized an estimated $12.6 billion in asset forfeiture cases. The growth rate during that time averaged +19.4% annually. In 2010 alone, the value of assets seized grew by +52.8% from 2009 and was six times greater than the total for 1989. Then by 2014, that number had ballooned to roughly $4.5 billion for the year, making this 35% of the entire number of assets collected from 1989 to 2010 in a single year. According to the FBI, the total amount of goods stolen by criminals in 2014 burglary offenses suffered an estimated $3.9 billion in property losses. This means that the police are now taking more assets than the criminals.

The police have been violating the laws to confiscate assets all over the country. A scathing report on California warns of pervasive abuse by police to rob the people without proving that any crime occurred. Even Eric Holder came out in January suggesting reform because of the widespread abuse of the civil asset forfeiture laws by police.

http://www.armstrongeconomics.com/archives/39102

 

[Raoul Duke]

 

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DOJ Suspends Asset Forfeiture Equitable Sharing Payment Program

December 23, 2015
J. Justin Wilson
Director of Communications

Arlington, VA – On Monday, following the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program announced that it would defer all equitable sharing payments for forfeitures, both civil and criminal, to state, local, and tribal partners for the foreseeable future. Following the DOJ’s announcement, the International Association of Chiefs of Police issued a statement, saying that the decision was “detrimental to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.”

Following these announcements, Lee McGrath, Legislative Counsel at the Institute for Justice, issued the following statement:

“Law enforcement revealed that its true interest in forfeiture is policing for profit—not public safety,” said Lee McGrath, Legislative Counsel for the Institute for Justice, in response to releases from the Department of Justice and International Association of Chiefs of Police. “The recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act does not stop police and prosecutors from chasing criminals. They’re frustrated because Congress put on hold their chasing cash.”

“State legislators from Florida to Ohio to California should take notice of law enforcement’s reaction to the DOJ’s announcement” McGrath added. “Many police, sheriffs and prosecutors want to circumvent state laws because outsourcing forfeiture litigation to the federal government is lucrative. State lawmakers should enact an anti-circumvention provision that respects federalism and refocuses law enforcement’s attention on stopping crime by allowing only seizures greater than $50,000 to be forfeited under federal law.”

http://ij.org/press-release/statement-responding-to-dojs-suspension-of-asset-forfeiture-program/

 

[RugersGR8]

From the link above: "foreseeable future"---it may rise from the ashes and fly again.


http://www.buzzfeed.com/cjciaramella/justice-department-suspends-12-billion-asset-forfeiture-prog#.asL148nZa
Justice Department Suspends $1.2 Billion Asset Forfeiture Program
posted on Dec. 23, 2015, at 3:07 p.m.
CJ Ciaramella
BuzzFeed News Reporter

 

[rawhide]

More info here: http://ok2a-action.org/action-news/ok2a-announces-support-for-sb838

OK2A Announces Support For SB838
also known as the Personal Asset Protection Act, would change state law concerning the government’s ability to seize assets from individuals arrested for certain criminal offenses.
For example, SB838 would require a conviction before assets could be seized.

 

[SMS]

Much needed. Will/can this law prohibit the state's ability to make those seizures under federal statute?

 

[Raoul Duke]

Kudos to OK2A for standing up for liberty and all of our constitutional rights to defy this obvious tyranny of the state.

Much respect to OK2A for this.

Maybe our legislators will pay attention, listen up and act accordingly to do what they are supposed to be doing, representing the people, not the perverted government power structures of the state.

 

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Cops Seized Over $107,000 From Couple, Didn’t Charge Them With a Crime

December 22, 2015

A Massachusetts couple has been fighting for three years to regain cash they say was wrongfully seized from them. In October 2012, the Illinois State Police pulled over Adam and Jennifer Perry for speeding as they were driving through Henry County on Interstate 80. The Perrys said they were headed to Salt Lake City, Utah to see a hearing specialist for an ear infection Adam was suffering from.

A drug dog sniffed and indicated on the car. Officers then searched the vehicle and found $107,520 in cash in a suitcase and in Jennifer’s wallet. The Perrys claimed the search was without their consent and without a warrant. According to the officers, they also found a duffel bag that reportedly smelled of marijuana.

No drugs were found in the car, nor did the government file criminal charges against the Perrys. Nevertheless, officers seized the cash and eventually transferred it to the federal government.

In a letter filed earlier this month, Adam claims that the taken cash came from savings and disability settlements and payments. “Our faith in the United States legal system has been shaken. Why are officer’s [sic] allowed to be judge, jury and executioner on the side of the road?” the Perrys asked in a 2013 response to federal prosecutors.

Unfortunately, their case is not unique. An extensive investigation by The Washington Post into one federal forfeiture program found nearly 62,000 cash seizures since 9/11 where police did not use warrants or charge the owners with a crime. Out of those seizures, more than 1,700 were in Illinois alone.

Moreover, for federal civil forfeiture cases, property owners are not presumed innocent and do not have a right to an attorney. With few safeguards, police and prosecutors can profit from forfeiture. Illinois agencies received more than $186 million in federal forfeiture funds between 2000 and 2013 from the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the Institute for Justice’s report, Policing for Profit.

http://ij.org/cops-seized-over-107000-from-couple-didnt-charge-them-with-a-crime/

 

[BlueandCold]

More info here: http://ok2a-action.org/action-news/ok2a-announces-support-for-sb838

OK2A Announces Support For SB838
also known as the Personal Asset Protection Act, would change state law concerning the government’s ability to seize assets from individuals arrested for certain criminal offenses.
For example, SB838 would require a conviction before assets could be seized.

100% in favor of this.