99 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
99 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
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[ARIZONA REPUBLIC February 20, 1994]
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HOW THE COPS CAN SEIZE YOUR PROPERTY
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by William P. Cheshire
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Senior Editorial Columnist
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ARIZONA REPUBLIC
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If you pick up any Wednesday's USA TODAY and turn to the D section,
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you'll find a full page of cash, cars and real estate that the Drug
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Enforcement Administration has seized under its
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property-confiscation authority.
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But all this stuff belonged to drug dealers, and they had it coming,
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right? Wrong. Those listed, the government is careful to point
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out, "are not necessarily criminal defendants or suspects, nor does
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the appearance of their names in this notice necessarily mean that
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they are the target of DEA investigations or other activities."
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According to Jarret B. Willstein, associate editor of the FINANCIAL
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PRIVACY REPORT, police seize the property of an estimated 5,000
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innocent persons every week. (Willstein's article is reprinted in
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the libertarian publication UNCOMMON SENSE, Box 3625, Kingman, AZ
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86402.)
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"Agencies now confiscating property from innocent Americans," says
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Willstein, include the FBI, the Coast Guard, the Food and Drug
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Administration, the U.S. Postal Service, the Bureau of Land
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Management, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the
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Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as "thousands
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of state and local police departments."
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Volusia County, Fla., police routinely ask people stopped for
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traffic violations how much money they're carrying, Willstein says.
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If the motorists have more than a few hundred dollars on them, the
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money is seized on grounds of "suspicious behavior." Police also
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seize jewelry and expensive cars. "In the last four years," says
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Willstein, "these legalized highway robberies have brought in $8
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million."
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POLICE EYE TRAVELERS
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-!------------------
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Even paying for airline tickets can be dangerous. The DEA and local
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police operate surveillance units at all major airports. According
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to Willstein, "virtually everyone you deal with at an airport --
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from the ticket clerks to the baggage handlers -- is paid a 10
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percent bounty for turning you in to the DEA if you buy a ticket
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with cash or if you look 'suspicious'."
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The CBS program 60 MINUTES sent a well-dressed reporter to airports
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in several major cities, where he purchased tickets with cash. In
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every instance DEA agents were waiting to seize his money.
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The feds also keep a watchful eye on patrons of major hotels around
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the country, have installed surveillance cameras at agricultural
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supply houses and require salesmen to keep a record of people who
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buy grow-lights, hoping to spot pot farms, Willstein reports.
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Local police are no slouches, either.
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Texas officers arrested a 49-year-old woman at Houston's Hobby
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Airport five years ago when a drug dog scratched at her luggage,
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Willstein says. A search revealed no drugs, but did turn up $39,100
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-- money from an insurance settlement and the woman's 20-year
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savings.
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NO CHARGES BROUGHT
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-!----------------
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The woman was charged with no crime and was able to document the
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origin of the money. The cops kept it anyway.
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Though not mentioned by Willstein, the case of Donald P. Scott shows
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law enforcement at its worst. Using an improperly obtained search
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warrant, 30 local and federal law enforcement officers broke down
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the door of Scott's California home in October 1992. When Scott,
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armed with a pistol, went to check on the commotion, the cops killed
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him "in self-defense."
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They said they suspected Scott of growing marijuana, but no
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marijuana was found. After an exhaustive investigation, Ventura
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County District Attorney Michael D. Bradbury concluded that the
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raid "was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to seize and
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forfeit the ranch for the government."
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The D.A.'s report added this chilling tidbit: "In order to seize
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and forfeit property under either California or federal law, there
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is no requirement that an individual be arrested or charged
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criminally." Got that?
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You may have thought the Constitution protected you against
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"unreasonable searches and seizures" and kept the government from
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taking your property "without due process of law." These are mere
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words on paper -- words increasingly disregarded by what some
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people, including yours truly on especially gloomy days, suspect is
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the vanguard of a police state.
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