Trump wants to reinstate and expand civil asset forfeiture so cops can steal your stuff

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/02/09/trump-wants-to-reinstate-and-e.html

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If we get a video of someone doing coke in Trump Tower can it be subject to civil forfeiture? Asking for a friend.

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This sounds like a job for Connie (not Condi) Rice. Is she still in the legal game?

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Daylin Leach for president!

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Once the orange one has done this, killed off environmental protections, started about a dozen trade wars and killed ACA the GOP will impeach him and lay all this shit at his feet so that they are ‘clean’. If we could all keep reminding the reps that don’t oppose the insanity that we will not vote for them, regardless of party, in the next election we might be able to limit the inevitable recession and people who will become sick or dead from business first and nobody second policy.

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It might take some time for him to do this, since he’ll have to figure out the best way to wet his beak.

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While I certainly want law enforcement to have the tools necessary to combat large criminal enterprises, we must be vigilant to safeguard the rights of everyday citizens from potential abuse.

I would like to point out that the rights of all—literally all—citizens should be safeguarded from abuse by the police. Not just the rights of everyday citizens, whatever those are.

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Make America great again! By stealing your shit.

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True facts: You can wreck someone’s computer by trying to use it to multiply, like, a million times a million!

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The good news is that I don’t have “property”, but the bad news (for them, I suppose) is that the cops don’t either.

I propose that we establish a counter-program of government asset forfeiture. Target certain governmental assets where there are controversies of abuse, and convert them from “government property” to “public property”.

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Kind of off topic, but kind of not: is there a chrome extension I can that replaces every reference to T^^^p with, I don’t know, kittens or something? I’m seeing every nightmare scenario of the last twenty years coming true, and I’m just tired of it.

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This would be a good topic to raise with your friends whatever their political leanings. I bet most people (except for cops) agree forfeiture without due process =against the owner= is just flat out wrong. It’s patently obvious that assets cannot be criminals in their own right; I don’t understand how such reasoning ever passed muster.

Definitely something we all ought to be writing our Reps and Senators about.

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Like Cliven Bundy tried to do?

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Civil asset forfeiture arguably has legitimate reasons to exist. Of course, anything that can be abused and has incentives that lead to abuse, will be abused.

NO, absolutely not.

No, not like that.

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No, no it doesn’t. It is nearly 100% corruption. It is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Even if one buys the argument that criminals shouldn’t profit from their crimes, people who have not been convicted are not criminals. The Constitution demands the burden of proof be upon the government, not upon a suspect who in many cases turns out to be innocent. Even when the victims are entirely innocent, they have to sue the police to have their property returned. Is it any wonder this rule is never applied to the kind of people who have lawyers at the ready?

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Exactly. The opposition should also actively work to identify and ‘weaponize’ all of Trump’s “shit” AND constantly link those directly to anyone in Congress who does not actively and publicly oppose said “shit”; gotta make it all stick in prep for 2018.

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What’s the legitimate reason for it to exist? Especially given that we invented a way to do what CAF is supposed to do way back in the 30’s for Capone: We don’t have complete proof of what you did, but there’s no way in hell you have what you have legally as asserted by your taxes.

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