[bamahead]

Related: Police Seizing Cash And Property From Citizens Without Charges

A disturbing article in The New Yorker magazine mentions several instances of police seizing cash from citizens. The cops used a legal doctrine called forfeiture to seize the cash. The frightening thing is that the cash and valuables can be taken without an arrest or even criminal charges. They can simply seize it on probable cause and in many cases that have nothing to do with drugs.

State and federal laws now authorize forfeiture for a wide variety of crimes, many of them quite minor. You can have property or cash seized for such offenses as cockfighting, drag racing, gambling, illegal fishing, and more. The most bothersome detail is that many police departments consider forfeiture money part of their budgets.

The Monroe, North Carolina, police department wants to use $44,000 in drug money to buy a drone to spy on local residents, New Yorker reporter Sarah Stillman noted. Stillman thinks the drone would be used to patrol local roads looking for more vehicles to seize.

[SgtBilko]

“They can simply seize it on probable cause and in many cases that have nothing to do with drugs.”

The gov hates cash, because cash refuses to produce data that can be collected by the NSA. That’s why they’ll soon will force you to use electronic banking, credit- or debit cards only. So total surveillance can be guaranteed.

Just like france and italy already did. They prohibited cash transactions above 1000€ by law. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2013/02/14/france-plans-to-prohibit-cash-payments-over-e1000/

It’s only a matter of time for these laws to show up in the US.