“Common People Do Not Carry This Much U.S. Cash…” – - How Police Justify Stealing Citizens’ Money

Liberty Blitzkrieg ^ | 10/07/2014 | Michael Krieger

[SeekAndFind]

Police confiscating Americans’ hard earned cash, as well as a wide variety of other valuables, without an arrest or conviction is a disturbing and growing practice throughput these United States. Since cops get to keep the seized funds and use the money on pretty much anything they want, the practice is becoming endemic in certain parts of the nation. The theft is often referred to simply as civil forfeiture, or civil asset forfeiture. Incredibly, under civil forfeiture laws your property is “guilty until you prove it innocent.”

The extent of the problem came to my attention last summer after reading an excellent article by Sarah Stillman in the New Yorker. The article struck such a chord with me, I penned a post highlighting it and addressing the issue, titled: Why You Should Never, Ever Drive Through Tenaha, Texas. That article ended up being one of my most popular posts of 2013.

Fast forward a year, and many mainstream publications have also jumped on the topic. Most notably, the Washington Post published an excellent article last month titled, Stop and Seize, which I strongly suggest reading if you haven’t already.

Fortunately for us all, the issue has also caught the eye of the always hilarious, John Oliver of Last Week Tonight. The following clip from his show is brilliant. Not only is it hilarious, but it will hopefully educate a wider audience about this insidious practice so that it can be stopped once and for all.

As one officer admitted in an affidavit justifying his confiscation of an innocent driver’s cash:

“Common people do not carry this much U.S. currency.”

Enjoy:

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

[rktman]

LOL! Dig all night and don’t tell ANYBODY. ANYBODY!

[B4Ranch]

I would get a wood chipper, convert it to run on electricity so it would be nice and quiet and have at it. Back up to the river, start up my Honda generator and feed the fishes.

[tacticalogic]

I would get a wood chipper, convert it to run on electricity so it would be nice and quiet and have at it. Back up to the river, start up my Honda generator and feed the fishes.

Wouldn't it be easier to just put an oversized muffler on the motor it already has?

[MaxMax]

[B4Ranch]

Have you ever heard how muffled Honda generators are? I have never run one without the muffler on it but I suspect they are normally quieter than most engines. It’s possible that a superior muffler might quiet down the engine on a chipper but somehow I tend to doubt it would be as quiet as a Honda.

[B4Ranch]

Feed the fishes, HURRAH!

[rktman]

LOL!

[Ken H]

It has nothing to do with drugs.

Pres George H W Bush, Remarks at the Attorney General's Crime Summit, March 05, 1991:

Asset forfeiture laws allow us to take the ill-gotten gains of drug kingpins and use them to put more cops on the streets and more prosecutors in court.

In the last 5 years alone, the Justice Department shared over half a billion dollars in forfeited assets with State and local law enforcement.

http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=2764

[tacticalogic]

In the last 5 years alone, the Justice Department shared over half a billion dollars in forfeited assets with State and local law enforcement.

In Missouri, the legislature passed a law that said all the asset forfeiture money would go to the schools. The JD and the DEA worked with local law enforcement agencies to subvert MO state law by arranging for the feds to take credit for the drug busts, and take control of the seized assets. Then they could "share" it with the local LEO agencies.

[familyop]

The intent is the law, and the non-drug-related cash grabs at car stops are simple robberies. The judicial is corrupt, and that’s been common knowledge for decades. Drug abuse is one of many causes of that corruption but not the general cause. It’s a symptom.

[Ken H]

Par for the course. And some people will say with a straight face this has nothing to do with the drug war.