Property seizure by police called 'highway piracy'

[Ilsa]

Property seizure by police called 'highway piracy'

TENAHA — A two-decade-old state law that grants authorities the power to seize property used in a crime is wielded by some agencies against people who are never charged with, much less convicted, of a crime.

Law enforcement authorities in this East Texas town of 1,000 people seized property from at least 140 motorists between 2006 and 2008, and, to date, filed criminal charges against fewer than half, according to a San Antonio Express-News review of court documents.

Virtually anything of value was up for grabs: cash, cell phones, personal jewelry, a pair of sneakers, and often, the very car that was being driven through town. Some affidavits filed by officers relied on the presence of seemingly innocuous property as the only evidence that a crime had occurred.

Linda Dorman, a great-grandmother from Akron, Ohio, had $4,000 in cash taken from her by local authorities when she was stopped while driving through town after visiting Houston in April 2007. Court records make no mention that anything illegal was found in her van and show no criminal charges filed in the case. She is still waiting for the return of what she calls “her life savings.”

Dorman’s attorney, David Guillory, calls the roadside stops and seizures in Tenaha “highway piracy,” undertaken by a couple of law enforcement officers whose agencies get to keep most of what is seized. SNIP

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6252365.html

This is in far east Texas, almost to the LA border, probably 30 miles south of I-20. Bastards.

[Matariki]

1. Wow. That sounds typical of a third world country - where you're expected to bribe the cops.

scary times.

[rrneck]

2. I'm shocked! Shocked! How could

Texas produce a bunch of crooks like that?

[htuttle]

5. It's not just Texas

It could happen anywhere in the country. Look up Civil Forfeiture.

[boobooday]

3. All were African-Americans driving either rentals or vehicles with out-of-state plates.

This is infuriating. Where the hell are we?

[Ilsa]

6. East Texas. Not too far from Jasper. KKK is alive and well there. It's a

horrible place to be, very poverty-stricken, and ignorant to boot. They could use some economic stimulus to fix about ten counties throughout that area, but I wonder if it would ever make a difference in people's attitudes.

[htuttle]

4. I've been ranting against civil forfeiture since way back when it was only used against pot heads

Told you it would end up being used against everyone!

[Hoopla Phil]

7. Something is very wrong with this.

On many different levels.

[windoe]

8. I will steer clear of East Texas, thanks.

Someone needs to make a Freedom vs. Freeper map of the US, would help us all out.

[Greyhound]

9. This has been going on since the 80s, particularly in the south.

The stories of charter companies that have had their boats and planes seized because a customer had a joint in their duffel, and because they don't charge the operators of the company, their only recourse is to try to sue in civil court, an extremely difficult and expensive path, used to frequently make the news, but since the final corporate consolidation the reporting has all but stopped.

The Atlanta PD has been taking cars and houses under this same strategy for years and years. I had a friend in AZ that lost his Cadillac and had the foundation of his house broken up, because one of his prescription Percocets had found it's way out of his bottle in the glovebox.

I'm sure happy that we don't live in one of those police states.:eyes:

[JohnyCanuck]

10. War on drugs as cash cow for the prison industrial complex and the cops.

Watch this Dutch TV documentary as it explains how the "war on drugs" has become a cash cow for police departments and the prison industrial complex (but not done a hell of a lot as far as stopping the illegal drug trade). It starts off for a minute or so in Dutch, but the rest of the video is in English. (1hr 32min)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=864268000924014458&ei=gdiRSf-ZLoH6qgLj49y2Cw&q=dutch+war+on+drugs