Does she really want it back at this point? Because Iâd never pick it up when itâd been out of my ownership for that long and through whoever knows how many peopleâs hands. I mean, I know itâs the principle of the thing, but Iâd demand a new one.
I shudder to think what the police will do to it, and her other possessions, if she wins a case to have them returned to her.
I feel, though, that thereâs too much emphasis on the vibrator here. Sure for some itâs a salacious and interesting detail, but what justification do the cops have for taking every belonging of hers? Are they claiming itâs all been touched by marijuana smoke and is therefore considered âdrug paraphernaliaâ? Thatâs a convenient excuse.
Thereâs no link in the post , but if you search a bit, itâs another case of civil fortfeiture, CrooksAndLiars.Com
The legality of this civil forfeiture thing really needs to be properly challenged. I mean, they can say that you arenât being punished without a trial on a guilty-until-proven-innocent all they want, but thatâs whatâs actually happening.
No, Michigan law has a very low bar to clear for asset forfeiture. If you follow the links, youâll get to a better explainer on Forbes, or go deeper by reading the stuff the Free Press has posted. Really the only reason weâre hearing about this case is because legislators are proposing changes which would tighten up requirements a little and holding hearings. The whole thing sounds like malicious prosecution more than anything else. Iâm wondering who she pissed off so bad that police felt entitled to steal her kidâs christmas presents. Thatâs pretty low.
I really donât know how you could trust the police blindly in this day and age without being a fool. Not that I am saying we should dismantle them, but some accountability and transparency would be nice. This is straight up robbery, and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Not to mention just lacking human decency.
Female sexuality has always been considered a dangerous weapon by authoritarians.
I can generally trust police in my own life, because Iâm white, male, not-poor, and donât have any illegal drugs. The only context where my privilege doesnât make me mostly immune from police abuse is when I participate in anti-war protests and similar activities, and even in those situations Iâm in less danger than many other people.
(Of course, my personal experience of police behavior doesnât mean I buy into the general âa few bad applesâ narrative. Because that would be foolish, or at least seriously oblivious.)
I am in the same race/gender/etc. category, but I have had an unpleasant interaction with a cop (and in a pretty well-to-do suburb too). I turned left onto a three-lane, divided, non-limited access, low-speed highway at a green light, into the highwayâs left lane. At the same time, another guy originally opposite me turned right onto the same highway, into the highwayâs right lane. There was a center lane between us, so there was no danger of a collision. Lots of people waiting to turn in both directions, so it seemed safe and efficient.
I was immediately motioned to pull over by a cop. I put on my blinker and pulled over to the right lane and stopped (no shoulder available). Without me saying a thing, the young cop chewed me out for ânot yielding,â and also said in an angry tone that âif I tell you to pull over, pull over to the same lane.â He didnât give me a ticket (probably because he knew it wasnât really a problem), but the interaction scared the heck out of me. Given I have been pulled over maybe twice before in my life, I didnât know youâre supposed to just stop in the fastest lane. I lost some respect for the police at that point, and lost the rest of it in the years since Rodney King.
So what are the full names and badge numbers of the pigs involved in this? This kind of story really needs to start carrying that stuff, so anyone who googles their names will know what kind of worthless shitstains they are.
I wonder if we could get a bunch of National Guard troops to show up at these pigsâ doorsteps all kitted out with their M16s and flashbangs and teargas grenades and demand to be let in so they can take all these copâs stuff.
Government-sanctioned theft from a people judged to be the enemyâŚ
They should really just rename civil forfeiture to being a Letter of Marque. Sounds cooler, means the same thing and the police would be able to wear better hats.
This must be that freedom that americans are always harping on about
And the gorgeous scrolls theyâd have to carry will keep that Lord of the Rings guy in work for decades to come!
I didnât vote for civil forfeitures to be a thing. Sometimes, the police just decide to do illegal things because shooting them when they break into your house and threaten your family is illegal. Even if they have no reason to do it. And their judge buddies, and DA buddies, will bail them out no matter how heinous the crimes they commit.
Seriously, fuck the police. They have lost all of my trust, and theyâll have to spend a lot of time doing community service, and spend a lot of time cleaning up the messes theyâve been making, and unkilling a lot of people, and have to lose a lot of equipment and privileges before Iâm willing to believe anything a cop says as true, or trust a cop to not kill me randomly because of their throbbing boners for small amounts of authority and power.
At this point the most Iâd be willing to believe is that thereâs a few good apples. Iâve met some good cops. Thereâs a retired Texas state trooper with whom I regularly dance, and she is the nicest person youâll ever meet. Ultimately, I believe the problems with policing in America are systemic. The militarization, the good-old-boy culture and the way in which whistle-blowers are met with hostility, not only by others in powerful organizations, but also by the public (who should give whistle-blowers a heroes welcome) and the Federal Administration (which should be unbiased defenders of the Constitution). The American zeitgeist is exceedingly superficial. We excoriate individuals, yet we throw our hands up in exasperation at the larger web of interrelated problems that plague our societyâŚthe distrust, the short-sighted selfishness, the dearth of compassion, ectâŚ
One small point: although she isnât male, the subject of the original post was growing legal drugs. A judge agreed and threw out the criminal charges against her. A jackhole prosecutor informed her he thought he could defeat her in civil court, and heâs going to hold the personal private property of herself and her family hostage while he wastes taxpayer money trying to do so. I donât know the details of Michigan state law, but if it actually allows what heâs doing, it blatantly violates the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Imagine if you could size your neighborâs private property simply by filing a lawsuit against them in civil court.
trust with your life? i donât. while being white puts you at a much lower risk, the number of fatal shootings still isnât trustworthyâŚeven if you are a kid.
trust at allâŚnot really, if you happen to have any large amount of cash on you for business purposes, you can pretty much kiss it goodbye if they find out about it. the number of cases where cops have outright stolenâŚer required asset forfeitureâŚwith NO CAUSE other then âhey you have lots of money, i like lots of money, give me your money.â
at this point we need an overhaul of the system. government, police, business, ip, social inequality, etc. time to get some changes and fix this stuff.
I agree. The militarization is truly frightening considering the culture and systemic issuesâŚ
A few years ago I started posting The idea that if this is a âWarâ on drugs the possibility exists that there are âWar Crimesâ being committed. I did this with tongue in cheek. Guess what⌠my tongue is no longer in my cheek. When officials abuse the intent of the law for profit or with vindictive maliciousness especially now that those officials are aware they are on the losing side of the legalization issue I feel that this blatant abuse of authority should be held up to scrutiny and the initiators be held accountable.
We need to examine our entire justice system. Even taken out of context the sentiments were already forming 500 years ago, the Bard still said it - âFirst Let us kill all the lawyers.â Itâs time to put our public servants on a shorter leash and remind them what their function is supposed to be.
