Posted on 05/15/2015 9:13:01 AM PDT by Second Amendment First
Joseph Rivers was never convicted of a crime. He was never charged with one, or even officially detained. But that didn't stop the Drug Enforcement Administration from taking his life savings away under civil asset forfeiture, the highly controversial practice that allows law enforcement officers to take property from people whom they never even charge with a crime.
I spoke with Rivers's attorney, Michael Pancer of San Diego, about the case yesterday. He said the situation Rivers got caught up in -- where federal agents boarded a train and started asking people questions like "who are you?" and "where are you going?" -- is a lot more common than you might expect. "Their purpose is to try to find money to seize or find evidence of criminal activity," he told me. "That's why they do it. But I think the main purpose is to try to find money."
Many law-abiding citizens may not be worried about civil forfeiture laws, because why would police target you if you haven't committed a crime? But when it comes to civil asset forfeiture, it doesn't matter whether you commit a crime or not. If you exhibit certain types of behavior that law enforcement officers deem "suspicious" -- a broad category encompassing everything from having empty energy drink cans in your car to buying a one-way train ticket with cash -- they can use that as a basis for a determination that property you own was obtained through illegal means.
In last year's Washington Post investigation of highway asset forfeitures, experts outlined the contours of law governing these encounters. In a similar spirit, here's what experts say about how the law works in situations like the one Joseph Rivers found himself in.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Don’t you just hate it when you can’t even get a noob to take the bait?
I thought briefly of pretending to bite, just to keep it going.
True Constitutionalists believe in individual liberty and person responsibility. You support the government. Just because some jackwagon politician had a crappy idea doesn't mean it's right, yet here you are supporting it.
Throw Uncle Sam from the train.
Well, I’ve been saying that for 10+ years.
WOD is kind of a hybrid of both choices.
The government decided to keep it underground to keep drugs away from the law-abiding population but allowed certain sellers to grow big and picked the weeds in order to minimize violence.
Which economy is bigger? The illegal drug industry? Or the DEA and prosecution industry?
You’re right. I don’t belong here on Free Republic with you dopers and scoff laws.
“The Bill of Rights - granted no right to anything. It recognized certain, but not all, natural rights, and contained other restrictive clauses on the federal government.”
As it turns out, you are correct.
Not a single right was granted nor guaranteed. All have been punched full of holes like a Swiss cheese. Every single one.
:) ....!
How does that help?
************
They can’t steal what they don’t know about.
Because it’s the cops’ money now. If you want it. take them to court.
Truth...sad, but truth.
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