Civil forfeiture was authorized in 1988 and represents one of the most blatant assaults on private property rights today. Under civil forfeiture, police can seize your home, car, cash or other property without charging you with a crime. All the police need is the mere suspicion that your property may have some connection to criminal activity. You can forget about being innocent until proven guilty because, with civil forfeiture, your property is guilty until you prove it innocent.
Between 1989 and 2010, an estimated $12.6 billion was seized in asset forfeiture cases. In 2014 alone, the feds raked in over $5 billion in assets and, for the first time ever, stole more property than criminals.
Where does the money go? Law enforcement agencies are allowed to keep up to 80 percent of the profits from assets they seize. According to a report by Forbes, “This money may be used for better equipment, nicer offices, newer vehicles, trips to law enforcement conventions and, in states like Texas, even police salaries.”
As stated by the government,
“Many criminals are motivated by greed and the acquisition of material goods, therefore, the ability of the government to forfeit property connected with criminal activity can be an effective law enforcement tool by reducing the incentive for illegal conduct.”
The sentence should read:
“Many cops and government officials are motivated by greed and the acquisition of material goods, therefore, the ability of the government to steal property connected with criminal activity can be an effective law enforcement tool to dramatically increase their own salaries.”
I discuss how police rob billions each year in this short clip taken from the recent Vice Media episode titled, “How Police Departments Use Civil Forfeiture to Collect Billions.” All credit for this clip goes to my good friend, Vice Director/Producer James Burns.
It's good to see you back on Steemit @barrycooper.
It was unforunate to hear about your website getting hacked to death, but I'm glad to see your sticking in their with your message about protecting citizens against the dangerous police state that exists in the United States and many other places around the world.
This article is a great read about civil forfeiture, a problem that has arisen alongside the growing power of law enforcement.
Here's a quote that stuck out to me:
Thank you for your continued contributions to the Steemit community @barrycooper. I look forward to reading more of your content as it is released.
-The Beached Whale
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Hey, @thebeachedwhale, I'm glad you enjoyed the article. It feels good to be back on Steemit and be a part of the growing community here. My website is still alive too and I have a great team of web ninjas on me side @autonomite. Isn't it crazy how blatantly the government steals from it's citizens? Just more reason to keep spreading the truth and build better solutions. Thanks for your feedback. Keep the peace rollin.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Looking at that chart, we could almost be surprised that government theft exceeded private theft, but then, that chart doesn't included taxation, so there really is no comparison.
Civil forfeiture exceeded burglary? What's the difference?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
great interview keep going !
its nice to learn more about laws
thank you
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit