Civil Forfeiture And You

[Yunes]

derp

 

[WiolentOne]

The only thing they would seize from me is lead.

Fucking goons.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Great news right here.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/instit...ot-keep-money-from-the-innocent/#253366be71f6

Reaffirming the presumption of innocence, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Colorado law last month that forced criminal defendants to prove their innocence when the defendants’ convictions were already overturned. As the court explained, “Absent those convictions, Colorado would have no legal right to exact and retain petitioners’ funds.” Not only is this decision a win for due process, the court’s ruling in Nelson v. Colorado could have major ramifications for government shakedown schemes nationwide.

Because...

Armed with this ruling, the Nelson decision may set an important precedent to rein in another abusive civil proceeding: civil forfeiture. The parallels are striking. Through civil forfeiture, law enforcement can confiscate and keep cash, cars and real estate without securing a criminal conviction or filing charges against the owner. Perversely, under civil forfeiture, even those found not guilty in criminal court can still forfeit their property in civil court, since the latter has a lower standard of proof.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

More good news.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/house-rejects-sessions-order-giving-153601825.html

U.S. House lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a trio of bipartisan measures meant to rein in civil asset forfeiture, a controversial law enforcement practice that allows police to confiscate property from individuals without ever convicting them of a crime, and often without even charging them.

In a series of unanimous voice votes, the House moved to block the implementation of a Justice Department directive earlier this year that encouraged these types of seizures. In July, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he was reversing Obama-era restrictions on adoptive forfeitures, which had allowed state and local law enforcement agencies to seize property suspected of being linked to a crime, before passing the civil cases off to federal prosecutors.

Amen to this.

The Institute for Justice supports abolishing civil forfeiture altogether, and believes property should only be forfeited in connection with a criminal conviction. With Tuesday’s votes showing sweeping opposition to the practice, Johnson is hopeful that more ambitious action will come next.

“This is a great first step toward civil forfeiture reform, but at the same time, it just puts us back to where we were two months ago,” said Johnson. “What Congress really needs to do is take up the cause of broader reform.”

 

[punkmother]

Glad to see law enforcement finally starting to play hardball in the war on drugs. With strength and resolve we can win. "Clean By 2019" needs to be this nation's clarion cry. We can do it!

right!?! its proven that if you put enough people onto the streets drugs just go away.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

Should need a trial. And even then stealing a house, cash, cars, and boats should still not be allowed. Corrupt police and governments.

There was another link in the article about this that told of a women that had her car seized because her husband was caught nailing a hooker in it.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

These are your republicans, folks, who love to talk about how dems want to reach into your wallet.

Meanwhile, these assholes want to take your HOME.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

From my limited understanding, they don't just seize property. You have a chance to challenge the seizure prior to the cops showing up and locking the doors.

I've defended clients in similar situations, usually bodega owners and property owners, where the dealers were using the location as their primary selling spot. In every case, the property owner came to us with a notice from the city about the pending seizure and once we contacted the city and demonstrated that the owner was not related to the drug dealing the seizures weren't followed through on.

My opinion is that the parents ignored/didn't read a notice from the DA regarding the status of the property and so were surprised when the legal system kept on moving. One more reason to pay attention to your mail.

Hey, I just read that a few states require you to post a 10% bond before challenging a civil forfeiture.

No idea about this situation, but that might be excessive for some people.

 

[panamaican]

Hey, I just read that a few states require you to post a 10% bond before challenging a civil forfeiture.

No idea about this situation, but that might be excessive for some people.

I hadn't heard that but I haven't really looked into it either. The few times we've dealt with it (cops seized assets even though it wasn't our client engaged in the criminal behavior - they just owned the store where the activity occurred), it wasn't part of my state's procedure.