Supremes screw the pooch again

While I generally like this set of judges, they sure aren’t infallible, and proved it in a major way today.

In a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority, the justices affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuits by the two plaintiffs, who were denied prompt hearings to reclaim vehicles seized by police in crimes committed by other people.

You know civil asset forfeiture – brought in ‘way back when, it was supposed to be used as a tool to keep drug dealers and major criminals from enjoying the fruits of their criminal activities. Sounded great – Pablo the dealer loses his cocaine money, Tony the Capo doesn’t get more pasta, all kinds of things. But, like ‘most anything, what CAN be warped into screwing thy neighbor,  HAS been.

In 2014, a Los Angeles music promoter had his cash seized twice. He had sent his staff to collect the door receipts at big Mexican music concerts that he promotes and organizes. In both cases, a simple traffic stop turned into a loss of property, even though there was no evidence of a crime.

A taco truck owner had $10,000 taken by LA Sheriff’s Department near Lancaster. He answered honestly that he was carrying a large sum of money. Why wouldn’t he? He wasn’t breaking the law, he was traveling with his own money, from his own legal business. There were no drugs in the car, no evidence of a crime, but a K9 keyed on the money. The driver was not arrested or charged. But his property was seized and put into forfeiture proceedings.

Mr. Jalali had previously rented an office space to a medical marijuana dispensary. And although Mr. Jalali was never been charged with any crime nor were his tenants, the Anaheim Police Department and the federal government attempted to use civil forfeiture to take his entire $1.5 million commercial building.ACLUNC.com

Then there are others, like the trucker who was headed to buy a truck and his savings ripped off. There are whole geographies benefiting from deciding that anything more than a few hundred bucks simply MUST be money meant for the local coffers.

The Interstate-44 corridor through southern Missouri, Interstate 70 through St. Charles County and the network of interstates that connect in Illinois across from the Gateway Arch are prime locations for asset forfeiture and drug traffic.

No drugs, no charges: In Missouri, St. Charles and Phelps counties seize about $1 million a year, mostly by taking in cash in highway stops where no state criminal charges are filed and no drugs seized.

An unusual alliance of libertarians and liberals — from the ACLU to Cato and the Koch brothers — says civil asset forfeiture often amounts to highway robbery.

Law-enforcement agencies can circumvent state restrictions on the use of forfeited property through the federal Equitable Sharing Program, under which the Justice Department adopts a forfeiture and sends up to 80 percent of the money back to local law enforcement to spend. Pulitzer Center

The federal government seizes roughly 30,000 property assets every year. Approximately 80-85 percent of the seizures are forfeited administratively with no one making a claim on the property after appropriate notice. The courts resolve the remaining 15-20 percent of seizures. Judicature (Duke Law School

Apologists say “well, using this we can  hurt the folks we can’t prosecute.”  So we let law enforcement steal from folks using “oh, it must be drug money” as an excuse?

Long term readers know this a topic that gets me steamed, and rightfully so. How the Supremes could not strike this down on Constitutional grounds (pretty sure “it must be drug money” is not exactly an excuse for ignoring due process!) Something allegedly used in a crime by a third party? Equally as unsupportable. Legalized government theft should not stand.

Category: Crime, Supreme Court