Posted on 01/16/2015 2:07:39 PM PST by oblomov
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Friday barred local and state police from using federal law to seize cash, cars and other property without proving that a crime occurred.
Holders action represents the most sweeping check on police power to confiscate personal property since the seizures began three decades ago as part of the war on drugs.
Since 2008, thousands of local and state police agencies have made more than 55,000 seizures of cash and property worth $3 billion under a civil asset forfeiture program at the Justice Department called Equitable Sharing.
The program has enabled local and state police to make seizures and then have them adopted by federal agencies, which share in the proceeds. The program allowed police departments and drug task forces to keep up to 80 percent of the proceeds of the adopted seizures, with the rest going to federal agencies.
With this new policy, effective immediately, the Justice Department is taking an important step to prohibit federal agency adoptions of state and local seizures, except for public safety reasons, Holder said in a statement.
Holders decision allows some limited exceptions, including illegal firearms, ammunition, explosives and property associated with child pornography, a small fraction of the total. This would eliminate virtually all cash and vehicle seizures made by local and state police from the program.
While police can continue to make seizures under their own state laws, the federal program was easy to use and required most of the proceeds from the seizures to go to local and state police departments. Many states require seized proceeds to go into the general fund.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Knowing the character of the person involved, and knowing the source of this news (Washington comPost), I'm thinking there is more involved. I.e., Eric Holder bans local police from seizing assets so the Federal Gestapo can get first dibs.
He doesn’t want the competition stealing.
I doubt it changes much. As noted states have their own civil asset forfeiture laws and most if not all, don’t need to do it under a federal law.
They are doing this to downplay objections to Holder’s replacement in waiting, who made her career doing civil asset forfeiture. She oversaw 900 million under civil asset seizures.
Why is the whole administration ruling by fiat?
Why isn’t the republican oligarchy doing anything??
Holders decision allows some limited exceptions, including illegal firearms, ammunition
So there's that.
You want republicans to defend asset seizure???
What did Holder get Alzheimer’s or something?
Eric H0lder, Federal Dick, .........
I'm thinking the same thing!!! Holder actually did something right.
Methinks you are correct. Still, this is a good thing, regardless of the motivation. But it doesn’t go nearly far enough.
What galls me is that the gutless Supremes haven’t reined this in already. It is a corrupt practice to seize property absent a preponderance of evidence that the property was the fruit of a crime, converted from the fruit of a crime or directly and knowingly used by its owner in the commission or facilitation of crime.
This BS of seizing grandma’s house because the grandson sold a bag of weed out of his car while parked in the driveway needed to be stopped long ago.
Well, well ... one thing I back him on! I would have never thought this would happen.
What’s Holder’s FR nick?
Just about every time it's come before the court, the conservative justices have supported the practice. Law and order, don'tcha know.
Just about every time it's come before the court, the conservative justices have supported the practice. Law and order, don'tcha know.
“You want republicans to defend asset seizure???
No. I want them to insist that the administration act within the law instead of by fiat.
Sorry about the double.
You think asset seizure is within the Fourth and Fifth Amendments?
They are busy fighting tooth and nail .....
.....against conservative republicans
One set of emperors balancing out another set of emperors
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