Thursday, June 19, 2008
Public radio has been doing a series on how police departments profit from confiscating drug money and property.
I was aware of that law, allowing the confiscation of houses, vehicles, boats, money, anything suspected of being used for making, running, selling, or distributing drugs. I've always disagreed with that law, and don't understand how it ever made it past the Supreme Court, because all that's required is suspicion, no trial, no proof, and that is flat out unconstitutional. There have been cases where people have had property confiscated, but were not charged with any crime, sued to get their stuff back, and couldn't get it back because it had already been sold or destroyed. They might get a grossly depreciated value returned. Or nothing at all because, get this, they don't have a receipt. And maybe they didn't do anything wrong! Suspicion only! Maybe just a nasty rumor.
What I wasn't aware of until yesterday is that in most jurisdictions, the police are allowed to keep the confiscated property, and are allowed to use it in any way they wish. That's a good incentive to go out and confiscate, isn't it?
There's some sheriff's department just above the Florida/Georgia line who takes in multi-millions of dollars every year, just by stopping and searching cars, and confiscating anything they take a liking to. I-95 is the corridor for running drugs from Miami to the northeast.** Drugs would be headed north, and money headed south. Guess which side of the road gets the traps.
I got the impression that few of the people are actually arrested on drug charges, because when you're finding just a lot of money, there's not enough evidence to prosecute.
They also talked about Texas, where they "stop Mexicans", and the state police net many BILLIONS of dollars per year.
They said that few people try to get their property back because the legal costs make it not worth it.
I think this is extortion. I don't care if they ARE guilty! It's government sanctioned extortion.
So today I caught a bit of the followup on my way to dinner. Someone pointed out that police can't stop a car, and especially can't search the car or the people, without cause. What cause do they use?
I could not believe the answer. An actual police officer said, with no irony in his voice, as if it was reasonable, "Well, when the speed limit is 65, people are going to be doing 75. So you stop the guy doing the speed limit or less. He's got something to hide."
My brain is still screaming.
Obeying the law is suspicious, and enough cause for you to be stopped and searched, and have all your (possibly innocent and perfectly legal) money, jewelry, whatever, confiscated with no recourse.
Next time you're stopped for speeding, try that excuse on the officer. "I'm speeding because I want to look honest and law biding."
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**Actually, I knew intimately someone who was a drug runner between Washington and Miami in the late '70s. But he didn't drive. He flew down with the money and back with cocaine in checked baggage. Maybe with all the luggage restrictions these days, flying with drugs is harder. That leads me to wonder how much of the hassle at the airport is to protect us from bombs made of infant formula and shampoo, and how much is to force the drug money to pass the highway police traps.
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4 comments:
That Georgia county was just north of where we lived in Jacksonville, FL. Camden County was always seizing major loads of $$.
I agree with your concept of "why are they pulling these people over" issue but when they showed these seizures on the local news, it was usually a 10 year old vehicle caught with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
I remember near Orlando in the 90's, they set up a road block sign stating "Drug search road block in x mile". There was no road block but the troopers would watch for u-turns and search their vehicle under reasonable suspicion. The courts ended up calling that "entrapment"
Bah!
Yes! It was Camden County! I know because when they first said it, I thought they were talking about New Jersey.
The seizures you see on TV are the defensible ones. You don't see the old black man or the hispanic kid who is relieved of the last $100 from his wallet, on the theory that it's "drug profits".
I'll agree with the U-turn as a reasonable suspicion for stop and search. But I won't under any circumstances agree to confiscation of property without any charges filed. That's still extortion.
Hmmm. I wonder if it would still be entrapment if there really was a road block ahead?
When I lived in Florida and had to travel north on 95 (which I loathed), I always felt uneasy driving by the state troopers. I know, I'm a white middle aged bat with a very innocent face. Profiling was in full swing then, but I still felt nervous.
And there were lots of very nice houses, boats, and cars confiscated by the Florida Bureau of Investigations as well as the Orange and Seminole County sheriffs departments. This stuff usually got auctioned off after the supposed bad guys went to prison.
They don't necessarily wait for anyone to go to prison. The people from whom the property is confiscated are often never even charged, and when they are, they aren't always convicted. But if they are at all successful in getting the property back, what they get back is whatever the property drew in auction, which is nowhere near the actual value.
My sister knew a guy in Florida who bought a car at auction without knowing it had been a drug confiscation, and one day at a road block a drug dog went crazy over the back seat, the car was reconfiscated, and RESOLD! Who knows how many times that car may have been auctioned. A real money-maker.
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