Got Constitutional Rights? Drug Tax Law : Guilty Until Proven Innocent

[Egalia]

Saturday, June 04, 2005
Got Constitutional Rights? No Arrest, No Guilt Required for State to Punish/Seize All Your Property

Tennessee: Sounds like the Soviet Union to me . . .

Today's Tennessean has a story on the horrific violation of constitutional rights that Tennessee lawmakers endorsed with their passage of the drug tax stamp law last year. Not only is no guilt needed for the state to seize everything you own, no arrest is needed!

When a number of Tennessee lawmakers were recently arrested for taking bribes, lawmakers and the Governor, himself, repeatedly insisted that said lawmakers were 'innocent until proven guilty.'

How laughable that sounded to me. In this state, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty is a right that state lawmakers reserve for themselves. To hell with the rest of us.

I've read this outrageous law (the Soviet Union would have been proud) and will have more on my family's ongoing nightmare soon.

Other than figuring out how to deal with a state that shows absolutely no respect for the constitutional right of due process, we are wondering if we really want to continue to live in such a terrifying state. Once we get through this nightmare, it may be time to look for, I dunno, a place that values freedom. A place that respects the rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

Does anyone know of such a place???


From today's Tennessean:

"There has to be in America some responsibility for the government to prove the citizen did something wrong before it punishes the citizen."

No arrest needed for state to tax illegal drugs Defense lawyers say Tennessee's new law is ripe for abuse

http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2005/06/got-constitutional-rights-no-arrest-no.html


http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2005/05/nashville-police-bust-60-year-old.html

[forgethell]

1. Almost all

tax laws are subject to such abuse because they are civil, rather than criminal, cases. They make some such distinction that in a criminal case they can throw you in prison. But the wealth and property that you have worked for come at the price of portion taken out of your life. The standards of proof for any confiscation should be the same as in a criminal trial.

[Egalia]

2. When they take everything

before you go to court, as is they did in my family member's case, you can't pay a fine, you can't hire an attorney. Without your vehicle, you can't get to work.

Gawd.

Freedom's on the march, all right, it's marched right on out of the country.

[firefox]

4. In many states they take your drivers license

There are plenty of states that will take your drivers license for 6 months for any pot conviction. I think some you have to have been caught in a vehicle with pot, but in others it is just automatic suspension of your license.

The pot laws need a new word above onerous, especially considering that there should be Free Cannabis For Everyone.

[firefox]

3. Marijuana Tax Act found unconstitutional in 1969

You would think with lawyers being everywhere that this would not have made it into law. Unfortunately, the drug war all but suspends law and reason and other states including my NC have these tax laws so they can get money without the population feeling the burden of a tax. It is very stiff and the penalties for not coughing up cash immediately are way beyond unjust.

Timothy Leary took the Marijuana Tax Act to the Supreme Court where it was declared unconstitutional in 1969. The court said that it violated the 5th amendment where a person was forced to admit quilt to an illegal act.

The evolution of the forfeiture/seizure laws would make for a good book. People would find it shocking. This CounterPunch article explains that Merle Haggard will not tour Canada because one pot seed on the bus by any of a crew of 30 means the USG takes your bus right on the spot- http://www.counterpunch.org/gardner02192005.html I myself would like to know how many cars have been seized directly from the highway with the discovery of pot. There is a famous stretch of road in Florida that has taken it all to the extreme and I would really like to know how many cars Florida has taken right off the highway and set the driver out on foot.

[Egalia]

5. Wow

thanks for the good info Firefox.

Nice how laws found unconstitutional keep on coming back. Wiscosin found their drug tax stamp law unconstitutional also on 5th Amendment grounds.

I've updated the post, with numerous links, including links to the law and the actual drug tax Registration and Purchase requisition form, which you must fill out in order to purchase the stamps. It lists the tax rates for the various drugs.

http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2005/06/tn-drug-tax-law-no-arrest-no-guilt.html