If as stated, this is pure BS! As a matter of fact, I'd prefer no confiscations unless accompanied by a relevant conviction. The WOD has gone too far.
This law has become so abused. When did Judges start ruling on feelings instead of facts?
The police department doing the confiscating gets to keep the money for operating expenses. That's part of the problem too.
Perfect summation.
Duhh, ya think??
This is the kind of thing you might expect to see happen in some 3rd world Central American country, but not in the good old USA, right? Wrong, it happens here way too often.
When I lived in FL a middle aged black lady driving from SC to Miami right after Hurricane Andrew was stopped on I-95 near Daytona for a traffic violation. The deputy decided to go on a fishing expedition by searching her car, and hit the jackpot by finding something like $35,000 in cash in her purse. She later proved in court that the money was her life's savings which she was taking to her sister in Miami to pay for repairing her hurricane damaged home. Carrying that much cash around was pretty dumb, but it wasn't illegal.
IIRC she took the sheriff to court to recover the money and a judge ordered that it be returned. But when I left FL the sheriff's dept was planning to appeal to another court and was still refusing to turn her money over to her.
LE loves these unconstitutional laws that allow cops and sheriffs to keep anything they can find that suits their fancy even if no contraband is involved and no laws are broken. If a judge orders the property or money returned they aren't penalized or out anything except the money, cars, jewelry, etc, that they stole in the first place under pretext of enforcing the law.
The American colonials threw King George's tea in Boston Harbor and tarred and feathered his tax collectors for a lot less high-handed government thievery than that.
WOD?
Try War On Freedom!
Our constitution means NOTHING any more, as illustrated by all the feculent unconstitutional "Gun Control" laws people meekly tolerate, this garbage, varied other laws that put the burden of proof on the accused (Hello IRS!), Law Enforcement having become a revenue stream,......... ARGHH!
"The WOD has gone too far..."
On the contrary, some would say that it has gone just far enough....it is clear if you use cash, you may well be regarded an enemy of the state.
Of course, they are nothing more than little Hitler's under the guise of "people who care".
It's a shame most folks don't actually understand the meaning of the word "Freedom". They think it's something everyone should have - right up until it conflict's with their "personal values".