Property seizure by police called 'highway piracy'

[Are_grits_groceries]

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.”
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Town needs revenue
Tenaha Mayor George Bowers, 80, defended the seizures, saying they allowed a cash-poor city the means to add a second police car in a two-policeman town and help pay for a new police station. “It’s always helpful to have any kind of income to expand your police force,” Bowers said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6252365.html

I know this has been going on for a while. It sure beats taxes when raising money.MEH!!

[depakid]

1. I smell big liability

2 U.S.C. § 1983.

http://www.constitution.org/brief/forsythe_42-1983.htm

[Are_grits_groceries]

2. I'm cleaning my glasses.

It looks like you are referring to something called the Constitution. Is that in affect in Texas??