re: OK Sheriff indicted for bribery, extortion after traffic stop

quote:

---

It definitely was a shakedown, but as I've said before, far more often than not the money is actually illegal. There are obviously exceptions, which are terrible, and even seizing the illegal funds is taking a dump on the constitution, but let's not act like they're taking that money from our friends and family on their way to buy a boat.

---

quote:

---

In the East Texas town of Tenaha, the district attorney oversaw aparticularly Dickensian operation: Local cops would stop out-of-town drivers on the flimsiest of pretexts to look for cash, DVD players, cell phones, anything of value. The DA would threaten drivers with criminal charges, even promising to have state authorities remove kids from parents unless they waived rights to the property.

A class-action lawsuit uncovered that the proceeds from this highway robbery—an estimated $3 million between 2006 and 2008—were paying for popcorn machines, donations to a local Baptist church and bonuses for law enforcement key to the operation. Meanwhile, the DA was handing out light sentences to those caught with drugs, or laundered money, in exchange for seizing their assets.

---