Civil Forfeiture: America's daylight robbery, courtesy of the War on Drugs

[milliefink]

[milliefink]

Guess that means it’s even more important to have that ol’ 44 on hand at all times, amirite?

:-/

[L_Mariachi]

If a cop has the authority to search your car, he doesn’t ask permission. Henderson and Boatwrights’ first mistake was consenting to a search. Their second was signing over the cash under ridiculous threat of felony prosecution. An attorney might cost more than the $6,037 but they’d have made it back in spades in the ensuing lawsuit. (Also, it would have become a case of criminal forfeiture, which as the article notes is subject to normal constitutional protections.)

I’m not blaming them; their actions are perfectly understandable in the panic of the moment and unawareness of these systematic abuses, but for future reference: If a cop asks you for permission to do something, just say no.

[fnordius]

Well, I left the USA in the 1980’s and it really is news to a lot of us who only visit the States every now and then. If I were to relocate back to North America, this would make me consider Montreal or Toronto before some US location, for fear some DA could get a corrupt cop plant evidence so that they could confiscate my property through civil forfeiture.

I will definitely be wary of visiting my family in Texas, now.

[DevinC]

“Backdoor password to the Constitution”: very well put.