re: Clarence Thomas is an American Hero - Attacks Civil Asset Forfeiture

All of the above. Though one of the few things Holder (or Lynch?) did was limit CAF by the Feds. That is now to be seen what happens with Sessions.

The ideal situation is that the government investigates a drug dealer and uses CAF to seize the funds he gained through his illicit business. He is tried and convicted and the state keeps the fruit of his illegal activities. The idea is that it helps deter illegal businesses since your profits are at risk.

Unfortunately this ideal goes off the rails in a lot of cases. Basically anyone can theoretically have their assets seized. This puts people in a tough position to have to defend themselves without the benefit of their assets. Also many people who have assets seized aren't charged with a crime. That means it can almost be used as a form of harassment/intimidation.

Often the police or DA's office that effects the seizure gets to keep the money (rather than being sent to the general fund). This gives them a direct incentive to seize funds. Even if this is offset by reduction in their funding from the general fund then they become dependent on continually seizing money.

Then you just have the general waste of having citizens having to litigate (in less favorable circumstances than criminal court) to get their legitimate money back.

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Lisa Leonard testified that she put $213k from the 2008 sale in the bank and then later removed it. She was asked by the court to provide documents (bank records and bills of sale) to corroborate her story and she was unable to.

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simple bank statements would have been able to prove this. Also, the bank would have insisted on giving you a cashiers check when withdrawing such a large amount

He has always been my favorite Supreme Court Justice!

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She shouldn't have to prove anything

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One of the passengers in the vehicle told police that a portion of the money in the safe was from the sale of drugs. So the police siezed the money under anti-money laundering laws.

Mrs Leonard claims the money belongs to her and was withdrawn from the bank, but can't provide any documentation to backup her story.

Aside from Mrs Leonard's personal bank statements the financial institution would have been required under AML laws to report a withdrawal of $213K, yet still no records exist to support her claim.

Or other legitimate cash based businesses who have bad security procedures.

Yeah, hell I've seen a homeless dude with 8k in "Indian money"

"Not to derail ... but I feel that way about the Obamacare Penalty...which, supposedly, is going away."

I can see that. A difference is that the "penalty" was always a sort of tax that the administration did not want to admit to be a tax until it suited them in the legal proceedings. The government has long levied taxes to pay for health care and while odious, the penalty looked, in many respects, like just one more.

Could the State prove that the money was from the sale of drugs?

Apparently not....and even if she had been selling drugs, the onus is on the State to prove it. They don't get to keep the cash .

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The "MUH WEED!" pe

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Holy Christ I hope this phrase gets retired soon.