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Message
TX newspaper follows asset forfeitures in 4 counties w/ predictable results...
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:49 pm
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:49 pm
Texas Tribune
Long but good article. Theres a graphic in there that maybe someone more skilled than I can post showing Harris county only convicts ~60% of people they seize property from, with Webb and Reeves Counties less than 50%
.
And of course the sheriffs respond with...
quote:
In January 2016, Houston police took $955 from a man they said was a gang member with a criminal history because they suspected he was selling painkillers found in his car during a traffic stop. When prosecutors discovered he had a valid prescription for the drugs, they dropped the possession charge.
But the man’s money still went into the coffers of the police department and the local prosecutor.
A few months later near the U.S.-Mexico border, a Webb County sheriff’s deputy pulled over a southbound car that Border Patrol agents had flagged for having hidden compartments. There was nothing in the compartments, but because deputies suspected it was tied to drug trafficking, they still seized the 2007 Nissan Altima. The driver wasn’t charged with a crime.
The seizures highlight the controversial but complicated nature of a common policing practice called civil asset forfeiture, where law enforcement agencies can take and keep a person’s cash and property without charging the person with a crime. Instead, the government sues the property itself in civil court — where property owners have no right to a court-appointed lawyer — leading to oddly-named lawsuits like The State of Texas v. one 2005 Ford Mustang.
Long but good article. Theres a graphic in there that maybe someone more skilled than I can post showing Harris county only convicts ~60% of people they seize property from, with Webb and Reeves Counties less than 50%
. And of course the sheriffs respond with...
quote:
Civil asset forfeiture is a necessity for us on these drug corridors for us to be able to operate,” Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Louderback, speaking on behalf of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, said at the state’s sole legislative hearing on changing forfeiture laws this year.
This post was edited on 6/21/19 at 7:55 pm
16
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:51 pm to NYNolaguy1
It’s amazing this shite was ever even conceived much less still being allowed.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:53 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:"we need to keep stealing to fund our theft operation"
Civil asset forfeiture is a necessity for us on these drug corridors for us to be able to operate,” Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Louderback
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:54 pm to NYNolaguy1
How in the blue frick this shite hasn't made it to the Supreme Court I'll never know. Corruption at every level is the only reason I can conceive.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:55 pm to NYNolaguy1
Cops are truly some of the dumbest members of our society iwabh.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:57 pm to northshorebamaman
I feel like I see these articles often but people I talk to always act shocked, or like it mustn’t be true.
Is it just that it so blatantly goes against our core principles that people don’t want to think it could happen? Or just “yea but they must’ve done something and i don’t do illegal things”?
Is it just that it so blatantly goes against our core principles that people don’t want to think it could happen? Or just “yea but they must’ve done something and i don’t do illegal things”?
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:59 pm to sand mountainDvalues
quote:
Cops are truly some of the dumbest members of our society iwabh.
Honestly I dont blame the officers. It's not like they are pocketing the cash/property (I hope).
The fault lies way above their pay grade with the DA's that push this, the sheriffs depts and associations that get funded with the cash and the lawmakers that bend to political pressure and donations.
The officers for the most part are just the pawns doing the dirty work.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 7:59 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:
Civil asset forfeiture is a necessity for us on these drug corridors for us to be able to operate,” Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Louderback, speaking on behalf of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, said at the state’s sole legislative hearing on changing forfeiture laws this year.
Protect and serve = harass and steal
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:00 pm to NoSaint
quote:
Or just “yea but they must’ve done something and i don’t do illegal things”?
They think it will never affect them or theirs so they dont worry about it.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:01 pm to NYNolaguy1
I increasingly find myself taking the opposite stance from whatever sheriff’s associations support.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:01 pm to NYNolaguy1
This failed war on drugs, at least at this point, has overall little to do with race that I can see but everything to do with incentives—federal funding, civil asset forfeiture, votes for looking like the “toughest” on crime i.e. more arrests but lower quality arrests.
Change my mind.
Change my mind.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:08 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:
In nearly 60% of the cases, people didn’t fight their seizures in court at all, resulting in judges turning over the property to local governments by default.
this severely skews the findings/results of the study. So say 80% of the 60% chose to challenge, that would throw off the finally tally by a wide margin. of those who did challenge, how many were successful? 
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:09 pm to biglego
Back the blue
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:15 pm to NYNolaguy1
(no message)
This post was edited on 11/24/20 at 6:54 pm
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:18 pm to ExtraGravy
quote:
Someone please explain to me how this is justified
Probably because the defendant couldnt afford to pay $2k to hire a lawyer to get back his money.
On a legal level, it's legal because property has no right to funded counsel, presumption of innocence, or most other rights that you and I enjoy.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:22 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:
Civil asset forfeiture is a necessity for us on these drug corridors for us to be able to operate,” Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Louderback, speaking on behalf of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, said at the state’s sole legislative hearing on changing forfeiture laws this year.
Gotta love small government conservatives. This sheriff was also vocally against legalizing medical marijuana in Texas.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:26 pm to BeepNode
quote:How is that making them small govt conservatives? If a person with a dick calls themselves a woman, does it make it true?
Gotta love small government conservatives. This sheriff was also vocally against legalizing medical marijuana in Texas.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:35 pm to Barbellthor
quote:
This failed war on drugs, at least at this point, has overall little to do with race that I can see but everything to do with incentives—federal funding, civil asset forfeiture, votes for looking like the “toughest” on crime i.e. more arrests but lower quality arrests.
Change my mind.
It won’t simplify into a short OT lounge post. I think it’s less directly racial than some claim but I also think many of the alternative explanations have reasons underpinning them that are correlated to vulnerable communities and those communities often skewing racially
I’ll also say in some municipalities race is definitely a much larger factor than others.
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:40 pm to idlewatcher
quote:
this severely skews the findings/results of the study. So say 80% of the 60% chose to challenge, that would throw off the finally tally by a wide margin. of those who did challenge, how many were successful?
How much would they have to take before you found a lawyer to chase getting it back? Hiring a lawyer over a couple hundred bucks?
Now what if you are already pay check to pay check?
Or in a small town feeling intimidated by police who just stole your stuff and won’t give it back even after you are cleared? Worried they might mess with you more if you take them on?
Posted on 6/21/19 at 8:46 pm to NoSaint
You think that's bad, look at Chicago.
They impound vehicles so that if the owner fights back, they can drag out the court case as long as possible and if the victim wins in court, they get hammered with impound fees.
Even better, Chicago will use the logic of the asset being guilty to forfeit cars because they were stolen (ie used in a crime).
LINK
They impound vehicles so that if the owner fights back, they can drag out the court case as long as possible and if the victim wins in court, they get hammered with impound fees.
Even better, Chicago will use the logic of the asset being guilty to forfeit cars because they were stolen (ie used in a crime).
LINK
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