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Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

klkntv.com

111–120 of 156 posts

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#111

I’ve had this explained to me before but I can never fully understand the constitutionality civil forfeiture.

I get a yearly letter from county Treasurer demanding I pay them to avoid having my private, not commercial, house stolen. Government asset seizure is widespread.

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#112
Civil asset forfeiture should be abolished. It should not be possible to take property without due process, nor should it be possible to abandon property on the side of the road. It just doesn't make sense.

Also, when stuff like this gets taken, part of it goes to the state, part to the county. That needs to end too. We see it over and over, take the incentive away and this stops.

How can those sheriffs and deputies look in the mirror at the end of the day?

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Th jury for the trial for the crimes they never charged him with? Maybe they didn’t have evidence of a crime if they didn’t charge him. What is your reasoning?

That they had substantial evidence of his intent to traffic (see the other comment on this thread that tracked down the NE Supreme Court case, which cited even more evidence), and probably would indeed have arrested him if he didn't fork over the cash. I feel like I've been pretty clear about this.

He didn’t fork over his cash. They confiscated it under his objection. If they had evidence of a crime they would have charged it.

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That they had substantial evidence of his intent to traffic (see the other comment on this thread that tracked down the NE Supreme Court case, which cited even more evidence), and probably would indeed have arrested him if he didn't fork over the cash. I feel like I've been pretty clear about this.

He didn’t fork over his cash. They confiscated it under his objection. If they had evidence of a crime they would have charged it.

No, that's not always true.

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#115
post #88

CAF makes my blood boil. If not for the uniforms these people would be called bandits. How did we end up with so many people in law enforcement and the judicial system who have accepted “the end justifies the means” or “you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette”? I would love to see legislation at every level forbidding civil fines and forfeitures from benefitting the locality imposing them. Let such revenue go…

[dead]

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and certainly not wanting to argue in favor of civil asset forfeiture, which is obviously abused nationwide I feel like even entertaining these conversations about what crime the individual may have been contemplating allows the conversation to be derailed. If the individual had been caught in the act of handing over cash for illegal drugs, it would still be an outrageous corruption for the police to simply seize t…

I'm not sure I follow. If he'd actually been caught trafficking, what would the conflict of interest be?

It creates many perverse incentives for law enforcement.

Even if you require a conviction before CAF can be applied, it means that police funding is directly tied to number of convictions instead of the health of the community, and in particular ties funding to convictions in cases where large amounts of money are involved. This disincentivizes preventatory measures of any sort (because preventing crime brings no profit in the short term and decreases profit in the long term), and it means that rather than focusing on crime that has a substantial impact on the health of the community police officers are incentivized to focus on crimes that are likely to net a large amount of cash, which is not a great predictor for the actual impact on society.

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#117

While the cited behaviour is really astonishing, as a EU citizen, I must say that I still find it very curious that somebody drives around the country with that large amount of cash. I'd never (and most people here wouldn't either) travel with more than, say, $1000 in cash, and I would rely on ATM/electronic transactions/checks for additional money. Surely it wouldn't be illegal in any EU country that I know of (but…

Disagree, I've gone around plenty of times with over 1000€, mostly to avoid paying cash machine fees, and to avoid dealing with banks in a lot of places, there is nothing strange about it at all.

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#118

I’ve had this explained to me before but I can never fully understand the constitutionality civil forfeiture.

I get a yearly letter from county Treasurer demanding I pay them to avoid having my private, not commercial, house stolen. Government asset seizure is widespread.

wait a moment. do they auction the house and just keep the unpaid taxes or do they keep 100% of it?

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#119

I’ve had this explained to me before but I can never fully understand the constitutionality civil forfeiture.

I get a yearly letter from county Treasurer demanding I pay them to avoid having my private, not commercial, house stolen. Government asset seizure is widespread.

When you bought your house in that place you agreed to pay that tax. You could have bought it somewhere else (with fewer services or job opportunities). I'm not disagreeing that it sucks, but you could just move to rural Mexico and not have to deal with your county treasurer.

Re: Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I follow. If he'd actually been caught trafficking, what would the conflict of interest be?

It creates many perverse incentives for law enforcement. Even if you require a conviction before CAF can be applied, it means that police funding is directly tied to number of convictions instead of the health of the community, and in particular ties funding to convictions in cases where large amounts of money are involved. This disincentivizes preventatory measures of any sort (because preventing crime brings no pro…

If he'd actually been caught trafficking, he'd have been guilty of the offense charged. I don't understand the conflict. It sounds like maybe you more broadly oppose cannabis prohibition in Nebraska? Most people here do!
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