Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Sarah Stillman, “The Use and Abuse of Civil Forfeiture”, New Yorker 13 Aug 2013

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 30 Comments

The contemporary model of civil forfeiture in the US was introduced as part of the “war on drugs”. Under terms of this law, which varies across US jurisdictions, law enforcement officers can seize property involved in unlawful, or suspected unlawful activity, such as drug dealing. In some jurisdictions, law enforcement organisations are allowed to keep some or all of the assets seized. This has led to some notable abuse, notoriously in Tenaha, Texas, but in other jurisdictions too.

See

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/08/12/130812fa_fact_stillman

Why post this to IBS? Just an interesting aside on the “culture” of confiscation in the US.

“In general, you needn’t be found guilty to have your assets claimed by law enforcement; in some states, suspicion on a par with “probable cause” is sufficient. Nor must you be charged with a crime, or even be accused of one. Unlike criminal forfeiture, which requires that a person be convicted of an offense before his or her property is confiscated, civil forfeiture amounts to a lawsuit filed directly against a possession, regardless of its owner’s guilt or innocence.

“One result is the rise of improbable case names such as United States v. One Pearl Necklace and United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins. (Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson’s forfeiture was slugged State of Texas v. $6,037. [their story earlier in the article – Northernshrike]) “The protections our Constitution usually affords are out the window,” Louis Rulli, a clinical law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a leading forfeiture expert, observes. A piece of property does not share the rights of a person. There’s no right to an attorney and, in most states, no presumption of innocence. Owners who wish to contest often find that the cost of hiring a lawyer far exceeds the value of their seized goods. Washington, D.C., charges up to twenty-five hundred dollars simply for the right to challenge a police seizure in court, which can take months or even years to resolve.”

…..

“…But civil-forfeiture statutes continued to proliferate, and at the state and local level controls have often been lax. Many states, facing fiscal crises, have expanded the reach of their forfeiture statutes, and made it easier for law enforcement to use the revenue however they see fit. In some Texas counties, nearly forty per cent of police budgets comes from forfeiture.”

The typical victims are poor, often black or Hispanic, i.e. individuals without the means to contest what’s been done to them.

30 thoughts on “Sarah Stillman, “The Use and Abuse of Civil Forfeiture”, New Yorker 13 Aug 2013”

  1. Just saw this item today:

    “A US woman accused of using her espresso stands as drive-through brothels is suing the city of Everett in Washington State to recover $250,000 she says was wrongfully seized by police.

    “Carmela Panico owns the Java Juggs and Twin Peaks ‘bikini baristas’.

    “She was arrested and accused of promoting prostitution, but has not been charged. (Emphasis mine)

    “The cash was seized in a search of her home.

    “The lawsuit was filled after Ms Panico was notified that the city planned to keep the cash as proceeds from criminal activity.”

    Well, good luck getting your money back, Carmela….

    Herald Sun Aug 8 2013 (no remarks, it’s in the lunch room 🙂 )

  2. Here is the video for the Obama youth group.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOtGr1JFCnE

    Personally, Obama has inspired me to relinquish my United States citizenship.

    @Northernstar: Please read the following disclaimer that has been posted here for over a year on the right hand side of the front page: “Also, the Isaac Brock Society does not necessarily endorse videos or other material which are posted here for informational purposes.” The video has been posted for informational purposes.

    In deference to USCAbroad and because he asked, I have removed the embed to video. Those who wish to understand what this discussion is about my still consult it at Youtube. I am doing this in my function as administrator/editor (as a request to edit a comment) not as a comments editor or moderator (that job belongs to Pacifica).

  3. Another great example of confiscation starting here:

    https://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/03/10/moby-opt-out-update/comment-page-2/#comment-477371

    I am really angry with this OVDI switch and bait law! My parents just paid more than $400,000 in 14 days to the money sucking IRS! They have been retired for over 10 years. I wind up closing my bank account and took out my life savings to help them paid! Why so much? Because the penalty was based on the value of the property that was at it’s highest. My father gets rent but not much from it. Here we have the IRS demanding a lump sum! My father didn’t know he had to report this as he was paying tax on it oversea. On 2010 he read that he had to report it and so he hired a different CPA to handle. We thought the penalty would be based on a % of his income over the years from the property which would have been less than $100,000 as he confirmed with his CPA, but when the final bill came, it was way way too much! My father only had one property that collects rents, no illegal stuff, no funny business. The value of the property went up over the years but it is just the value, not actual income my father would collect of course. My father and the CPA was surprised that the IRS calculated the penalty based on the value which always means a lot! We tried to talk to a lawyer but the lawyer was wanted to drag the case out for $700 per hour!! The lawyer said to opt out but mentioned the possibility of IRS doing a standard audit and going after my father for anything in hoping to find some honest mistake and charge him much much more! Now I am interested in talking to Nina Olsen from the IRS Tax advocate who had criticized the OVDI in the past. Maybe, just maybe we could get some refunds back(I doubt that from the money sucking IRS). We would charge IRS for unfairly targeted law abiding citizens with penalty in the hundreds of thousands for the so called OVDI program that was suppose to penalize less upon disclosure! $400,000 is less? Come on! This is extortion!

  4. Pingback: The Isaac Brock Society | Civil Forfeiture: The new #OVDP confiscation program for those in U.S. borders

  5. Pingback: The two kinds of cash deposits that can lead to account seizures in the USA | U.S. Persons Abroad – Members of a Unique Tax, Form and Penalty Club

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