Posted on 04/28/2016 1:46:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Oklahomans whose assets are unjustly seized through the civil asset forfeiture process can recover their attorney fees under a new state law.
Gov. Mary Fallin on Thursday signed legislation passed by the House and Senate that allows for the recovery of attorney fees in forfeiture cases.
Republican Sen. David Holt of Oklahoma City authored the bill and says he believes it will encourage
(Excerpt) Read more at kfor.com ...
I don’t see how Asset Forfeiture is Constitutional in the first place.
It’s not, but this is a small step in the right direction.
Asset forfeiture is just armed robbery with a badge.
Ok, but what about the assets?
This is good news. The bad news is that what the criminal police organizations will to, is simply switch from stealing property based on state law, and will start calling in thugs from DEA or some other Feral bunch of thugs so they can use Feral rules instead.
This is what has happened in other places that have done this.
It isn’t, but we are living in a lawless country now.
The abuse has been where police take the money and property on accusation of it being ill gains, often without even charging you. And if you had a lot of cash, they assume it is ill gotten, no excuses allowed.
While I applaud anything that lets folks not have to pay lawyers, we really need to deal with the underlaying problem: and get rid of civil forfeiture all together.
Moreover, please permit me a tiny rant, we also need to get rid of permitting civil proceedings for harm done relating to the commission of some crime WHEN there has been no criminal conviction for same. No finding of criminal guilt: no civil liability.
Very good point.
I’m going to have to disagree. Remember there are two different standards: beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal cases, and preponderance of the evidence in civil cases. Just because I can’t satisfy a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that you deserve to be locked up doesn’t mean I can’t convince them you owe me money. I’m sure you remember the two O. J. Simpson cases.
Sorry, but the purpose of our legal system isn’t to ensure we somehow get our pound of flesh come what may. If a crime was committed and that forms the basis for the injury — be it murder, maiming, or lesser mayhem — and the accused stands trial but is found not guilty that should be the end of it, there should be no more civil recourse after that. Otherwise we are asserting civil liability for a crime committed without an actually finding of guilt for the commission of that crime.
How about getting their seized money and goods back too?
It is not.
Civil asset forfeiture is a cop acting as judge, jury and executioner, right there.
Huge conflict of interest behind asset forfeiture and cops.
But see that's not quite right. It's without an actual finding of guilt for the commission of that crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The criminal standard is the extraordinary standard. Unless we want all civil cases to be held to this same standard we have to allow civil cases to be heard even when a criminal case has failed to convict. If every civil case had to be held to a beyond reasonable doubt standard it would be almost impossible to win one.
Immaterial.
Actually that civil suit standards are more lax is WHY such lawsuits should be forbidden when there is no conviction, not why they should be possible.
Moreover, it would be no great tragedy to any but lawyers if civil suits were greatly curtailed from present levels anyway.
Likewise all forms of punitive rewards, since they are by their very nature and intent excessive, should be utterly eliminated as well.
It’s like the courts permitting almost any sort of lawsuit these days.
Have you ever noticed the sorts of lawsuits that the don’t like? Those that involve holding the lawyers responsible for the harm they do as a class would be at the top of the list. Law and governance of the lawyers, by the lawyers, and for the lawyers.
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