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Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions

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

#31

Post by raincom »

Buttons840 wrote: post #26
kickout wrote: post #12

Drive through this county everyday. The tricks they got up their sleeve are impressive if you don’t have a local plate. RIP to Illinois and Cali plates. ETA: Yes, everyday you drive through this county you will see cops searching vehicles (usually out of state plates, CO/CA/IL the most obvious). Almost feel bad for legit people driving through I80 with out of state plates, but the's what happens when you have a low p…

Do they have warrants to search to vehicles, or do they trick people into agreeing to the search? Or maybe they have a dog that does something like breathe near the vehicle, which is clearly cause for suspicion (\s)?

They use legally sanctioned loopholes wrt fourth amendment: four legged warrants = dog sniff

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

#32

Post by kickout »

Buttons840 wrote: post #26
kickout wrote: post #12

Drive through this county everyday. The tricks they got up their sleeve are impressive if you don’t have a local plate. RIP to Illinois and Cali plates. ETA: Yes, everyday you drive through this county you will see cops searching vehicles (usually out of state plates, CO/CA/IL the most obvious). Almost feel bad for legit people driving through I80 with out of state plates, but the's what happens when you have a low p…

Do they have warrants to search to vehicles, or do they trick people into agreeing to the search? Or maybe they have a dog that does something like breathe near the vehicle, which is clearly cause for suspicion (\s)?

All of the above. Id say >90% don't have a warrant and make up some weak PC (the mentioned air freshener in rear view mirror is popular).

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

#33

Post by hnick »

UncleMeat wrote: post #19
totallywrong wrote: post #7

Wait what? The police there is allowed to straight up rob civilians their cash? Why?

Not just cash. Cars and even houses too! Policing in the us is a nightmare.

For those unaware, here is an example:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2017/05/30/...

She let her son live with her, he sold less than $200 of marijuana, and her home (lived in since the 1970s) and car were seized as facilitating a drug transaction. She eventually won, after more than seven years.

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

#35

Post by EscapeFromNY »

wyldfire wrote: post #14
totallywrong wrote: post #7

Wait what? The police there is allowed to straight up rob civilians their cash? Why?

It's a laughably ludicrous violation of the Fourth Amendment. I can only assume that its constitutionality is not challenged in court or is challenged and not upheld. It's unjust, but many of the victims are actual criminals and so nothing is done.

> many of the victims are actual criminals

Very few of the victims are criminals.

https://www.nemannlawoffices.com/blog/law-enforcement-seized...

> One more data point supports this contention: At the federal level, at least, "the vast majority of forfeiture victims are never convicted or charged with a crime," according to Carpenter. Using data obtained via FOIA requests, Carpenter found that 87 percent of federal forfeiture proceedings were civil cases, not criminal ones. "It's troubling that 87% of the time the conviction appears to be irrelevant," co-author Lisa Knepper said.

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

#36

Post by Waterluvian »

alanfranz wrote: post #25

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…

As a Canadian I’ve wondered stuff like that too. What I think I’ve learned is that Americans can be deeply principled people. Beyond reasons like “I’m buying a used car” or “yes this is drug money” there’s also the reason of, “I’m doing it because it’s my right to.” And I’ve met many Americans who do things for no personal gain other than just to keep their rights exercised.

I used to scoff at this kind of thing. But I think I’m slowly learning some of the inner mechanics of American Liberty.

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

#38

Post by tick_tock_tick »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #2

Haven’t we been hearing about the horrors of civil asset forfeiture for more than a decade? Why is this still happening? Is there any sizeable constituency for this? Does anyone think this is a good idea, other than the corrupt law enforcement officers who are benefiting?

> Why is this still happening?

Unions the police want it to stay and they have a very strong Union. It's the other side of well coordinated collection action it can allow a very small minority to hold the rest of the people hostage.

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

#39

Post by raincom »

wyldfire wrote: post #14
totallywrong wrote: post #7

Wait what? The police there is allowed to straight up rob civilians their cash? Why?

It's a laughably ludicrous violation of the Fourth Amendment. I can only assume that its constitutionality is not challenged in court or is challenged and not upheld. It's unjust, but many of the victims are actual criminals and so nothing is done.

Dog sniff is legally sanctioned to get around the fourth amendment. In these cases, the govt violates due process, excessive fines, etc. Recently SCOTUS agreed to take the case Culley v. Marshall to examine these: https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/supreme...

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

#40

Post by ddq »

School-Cotton wrote: post #5
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #2

Haven’t we been hearing about the horrors of civil asset forfeiture for more than a decade? Why is this still happening? Is there any sizeable constituency for this? Does anyone think this is a good idea, other than the corrupt law enforcement officers who are benefiting?

> Why is this still happening? What would cause it to stop happening? State control over the police in the US is imperfect, and, since the US is a fundamentally flawed democracy for deep structural reasons, popular control over the state is even more limited. Thus there are two separate reasons why this wouldn’t be stopped even if most people were against it (which is by no means clear anyway).

My hope with stories like this is broader awareness and understanding of the deep systemic flaws in the U.S. as a State. In so many areas, the amassed institutional power far exceeds the popular will to challenge it in any serious, effective capacity, the sheer number of such examples a shotgun effect discouraging resistance.

I’d like to dream that it would become fairly obvious to the majority that these institutions simply are not under actual popular control, have no true accountability, and are in baldfaced defiance of the country’s founding principles and Constitution. I have yet to hear any convincing argument that this assessment is wrong, so hopefully the number of Americans who agree will someday reach a critical mass.

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