Is this really actual case or some news duck?
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/18241221/man-loses-22000-in-new-policing-for-profit-case
If someone has knowledge about laws behind this kind of action, I would be glad to hear and learn.
Can happen and happens for sure. Not only in the US, but everywhere. They may take a lot of stuff from you if there is the tiniest suspicion. And it takes months (sometimes more) to get the stuff back. Its mostly a grey zone and wont withstand court. But it can take forever until you get there. And thats the problem.. most people will agree on a cut, which still is a great amount for these guys if you sum it up. Half of something you dont deserve is still more than nothing..
LEO's in many cases are crusaders for their own goal's, which often excludes justice. This is far from an isolated case.
What a joke. It's stunts like this that cause citizens who normally support a police force to start feeling hostile. I'm a 100% law abiding citizen and I'm put in a position where I should expect I'm inevitably busted for something that is completely legal. How ironic: A law abiding citizen who supports having a police force to monitor criminal activity has to live in fear of this justice system.
We manufacture and purchase our goods from China so I guess we'll start acting like China.
Wow! That officer should be terminated on the spot! Agree to give up your constitutional rights and to not sue? Lawyers would line up around the corner to sue these Tennessee a-holes for both the money, damages, and all fees. This is not a simple civil case but one of constitutional violations. This LEO is a POS and so is anyone that would defend what he did. |(
Property forfeiture laws were meant to take money from big time Drug Dealers, however, too often, some nasty little thug in Uniform uses the law to steal money from ordinary people.
The Cops, Lawyers and Judges who help them do it deserve the death penalty.
I would be glad to help with that.....with a ball peen hammer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_forfeiture
I have no problem at all believing that story.
I thought Florida was creative in their methods of generating income
Then I moved to Tennessee.
In Roane County, if you are given a seat belt citation you are required to make a court appearance. The seat belt fine is $10-50 dollars (city dependent ). Court costs are a minimum of $280.00 Testimony of other vehicle occupants that you were wearing your seat belt is promptly ignored.
You are required to carry liability auto insurance. If you're stopped & don't have proof that you're insured it's a Automatic suspension of license. $65 reinstatement fee, and $25.00 to get a new license. Yep your drivers license number becomes "invalid" . If you didn't have insurance when you were stopped. $1000.00 fine , $280 in court costs , $65.00 reinstatement fee , $25.00 for a new license.
These guys are good at taking your money.
I saw this news at a random local forum.
There was also the same explanation You just gave as the justification for this kind of action.
But still, I thought I would probably get more legit explanations here.
At least there is SOME law and basically a good purpose behind making that law but something got wrong on the way...
What about the ceased money, what happens to them?
Do they go straight to the governments account or does local police force get funds from it?
Hmm, the fine itself seems quite small but the relative cost is indeed high!
BTW: here police uses cumulative fining tables based on your monthly net income.
Basic idea is OK when you think about wealthy people having an opinion to "just buy a couple of tickets" anytime. 150$ ain't a big drop in ocean if you make millions.
Still, it gets almost every time to headlines when someone gets a big ticket.
Biggest single fine I remember of 22km/h overspeed was 143'000$
They use a legal theory that dates back to medieval times. They charge the inanimate object with a crime, and being that in this case it's just a bunch of money, it can't defend itself. It's pure and utter crap, but legal. The police confiscate things with a suspicion that a crime has or may be committed, and then get to hang on to them no matter what the actual circumstances.
The money and goods confiscated go into the fund that the police force operates from. This is big business for law enforcement, especially at the federal level.
This is a vestige of our country's failed War on Drugs, instituted during the 1980's.
While residing in Florida, I saw this quite frequently. One sheriff in Daytona was famous for the practice, seizing millions of dollars (largely from minorities) during his tenure.
He openly admitted profiling, and his ability to do so was upheld by a local court.
After a very bad hurricane (Andrew, IIRC) Southern Florida was flattened. I drove down with some fellow college students to bring bottled water, diapers, and baby formula to assist in the relief effort. The destruction I saw will forever stay with me.
As a large portion of the state needed to be rebuilt, there was a shortage of building supplies such as plywood and sheetrock. People would drive from 2 or 3 states away with trucks laden with such supplies.
Returning home, these folks would be stopped by this racist sheriff, their funds seized, and sent on their way. To recover the monies, you would need to appear in court and show receipts or other proof that the cash was not derived from illegal activity.
Since there were no stores, no electricity, no cash registers after the hurricane....there were NO RECEIPTS.
Many millions were returned, but just as many kept - stolen from hard-working entrepreneurs who had the unfortunate luck to be born with brown skin.
This horrid man was re-elected, largely due to running on the 'seized drug money' platform.
This type of seizure is all to common throughout the states. The war on drugs in our country is a huge failure, the whole system needs to be revised. I don't think all drugs should be legal by any means, but our constitution and civil rights has been severely compromised by this failed policy. In fact the whole legal system is controlled by money with enough money and legal representation you can get away with practically any crime while a less fortunate person can go to jail for a long time for the smallest of offenses, remember OJ.
I'm speechless.
What Chicago wrote just made me think.. about 11.000 people are killed by guns in the US, the news are all like "the bad bad black man kills the good white man".. how come noone shot this particular sheriff?
Somethings wrong..
Who runs everything? Boss Hogg?
I never needed a reminder to never drive down south!
Rich
Wow... let's not go there. That's not quite an accurate depiction of the news reporting here.
Actually that had nothing to do with the news, its just what popped into my mind. People get shot or beaten to death for an ipod or less.. just seems weird to me.
Only in the Liberal Media are all victims black.
In the courts, most victims are black but so are the murderers. It is very very seldom in reality that a white man murders a black man in the USA.
That fact is "not news" due to the fact that almost all news reporters in the USA are hard core leftists. Anything that does not fit in with a leftist agenda will not be reported... It is "not news-worthy"
What pops into people's heads is sometimes a reflection of slanted news . .
. . the biggest news story of the year is about how the US legal system is racist because a non-white teen on drugs jumped a non-white overzealous 20-something and lost . . and the news here wants us to think the somehow the potentially lethal beat down shouldn't have similar consequences.
We have corrupt law enforcement just like we have corrupt new reporters. Unfortunately, we don't have enough outrage or adequate consequences over corruption.