Civil Asset Forfeiture: Where Due Process Goes to Die

[Geee]

National Review

Police can take your money or property and keep it, even if no charges are filed.

C
larence Thomas is famously taciturn on the bench. But his few words carry a great deal of weight.
Though the matter has not yet come before the Supreme Court, Justice Thomas is very much at the center of a federal case with a name that sounds like it ought to have come from a William Gaddis novel: United States v. Seventeen Thousand Nine Hundred Dollars in United States Currency. The case has the potential to help rein in one of the most abused powers enjoyed by American government: asset forfeiture.

The case involves a New York couple, Angela Rodriguez and Joyce Copeland, who lost the above-mentioned $17,900 to police in a case in which no charges were ever filed against them. They sued for recovery of their money, and — incredibly — a federal court found that they lacked standing to sue for possession of their own assets. The D.C. Circuit Court sees things differently and has ruled in favor of allowing Rodriguez and Copeland to at least have their day in court and attempt to reclaim their money.

[Draggingtree]

2 hours ago, Geee said:

National Review

Police can take your money or property and keep it, even if no charges are filed.

C
larence Thomas is famously taciturn on the bench. But his few words carry a great deal of weight.
Though the matter has not yet come before the Supreme Court, Justice Thomas is very much at the center of a federal case with a name that sounds like it ought to have come from a William Gaddis novel: United States v. Seventeen Thousand Nine Hundred Dollars in United States Currency. The case has the potential to help rein in one of the most abused powers enjoyed by American government: asset forfeiture.

The case involves a New York couple, Angela Rodriguez and Joyce Copeland, who lost the above-mentioned $17,900 to police in a case in which no charges were ever filed against them. They sued for recovery of their money, and — incredibly — a federal court found that they lacked standing to sue for possession of their own assets. The D.C. Circuit Court sees things differently and has ruled in favor of allowing Rodriguez and Copeland to at least have their day in court and attempt to reclaim their money.

got to more to this than meets the eye, mate

[Geee]

There are just too many cases where this law is abused. Heritage Foundation has had oodles of articles over the years. The law is 'wobbly' and too much discretion is left up to the individual law enforcement agency. This is a big country, not every law enforcement agency toes the line.