Stockton car seizure law challenged in state supreme court

AP via SFGate ^ | 5/2/7

[Minutemen]

...the seizure law has proven to be an effective crime-fighting tool...

....Until the state realizes that they are mostly impounding civil servants' gubbermint owned vehicles. )

[SmithL]

Doesn’t that sound like a shakedown?

[microgood]

Actually, it isn’t. If, I remember correctly, there was a Supreme Court case where a guy used the family car to pickup hookers - it was confiscated. His wife sued to get the family car back and lost. Property used to commit a crime is forfeited under the law of deodand.

And the reason for that is, that the inanimate object "participated" in the crime, so it does not matter who owns it. This is the insanity that they came up in the 80s when they passes all these asset forfeiture laws.

History will not be kind to this era of history. They will think the entire world was drinking LSD laced water in 100 years. It will be know as the "Era of the War on Inanimate Objects"(drugs, guns, trans fats,cigarettes,etc).

[stompk]

I heard that some places won’t confiscate cars if they are financed. seems like drug dealers could just take small loans against their cars and use this to their advantage.

[Howard Jarvis Admirer]

My recollection is that the law of deodand dates back to the Middle Ages, was part of English law, and then became a part of American law via English common law. It is not something that was dreamed up recently in the 80’s.

I think it is ridiculous to seize a cruise ship because a joint is found in the crew quarters, but I can see it being used to confiscate cars used for drug deals b/c the driver owned the car and used it to commit a crime, as opposed to some unknown worker smoking a joint on his owner’s ship resulting in the owner being punished for a third parties action which he could not have prevented. Didn’t Congress pass a law limiting forfeitures about 5 years ago?

[microgood]

My recollection is that the law of deodand dates back to the Middle Ages, was part of English law, and then became a part of American law via English common law. It is not something that was dreamed up recently in the 80’s.

You are right, but it was not used frequently until they decided on using it for the drug war and revenue generation in the 80s.

think it is ridiculous to seize a cruise ship because a joint is found in the crew quarters, but I can see it being used to confiscate cars used for drug deals b/c the driver owned the car and used it to commit a crime, as opposed to some unknown worker smoking a joint on his owner’s ship resulting in the owner being punished for a third parties action which he could not have prevented.

If the money does not go to the agency that does the seizing, there is less of an incentive to abuse it. The problem with the laws passed in the 80s is how badly they have been abused.

Didn’t Congress pass a law limiting forfeitures about 5 years ago?

Yes. When they first passed the law, they could seize the property without even charging you and you had to prove it was not used in a crime (nice guys, huh?). Because of the abuses, Henry Hyde wrote a book and made it a cause and got the civil forfeiture laws changed so the government has to prove by preponderance of the evidence, rather than sieze it based on probable cause. It has helped a little, but agencies that have a monetary interest in the outcomes of these cases are still abusing these laws widely. Many states have undergone reforms as well due to abuse at the state levels.

[BearCub]

What can be done to one, if nobody steps forward, can happen to all (think weapons confiscation, for starters).

Oh, I know. I seriously thought about intervening (as an individual) in some of the lawsuits by cities against gun manufacturers. My reasoning was: This frivolous lawsuit is going to affect me because I'll pay higher prices because of it. Won't fly.

I agree with you but unfortunately, constitutional law doesn't.

[Minutemen]

Typical shakedown.

[SmithL]

I don’t quite understand either. Can you ping me when further develops?

As requested: Stockton car seizure law challenged in state supreme court

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Maybe now MrLeRoy can get his car back.

[Enterprise]

Thank you!

A while back I read that a city in Southern California was seizing vehicles from people for petty crimes and selling them and splitting the money with the DA's office. The same city was also whining about not having enough officers to put on the streets to counter the gangs. Color me cynical on this, but I can't be too sympathetic with a city that can't confront violent gang members, but yet they have enough people to run prostitution stings for fun and profit.