Police State / Drug War thread (1 Viewer)

[Maurile Tremblay]

This link might be useful in here: http://www.policemisconduct.net/

 

[Clifford]

Jesus man. Just move into a compound in Wyoming with a weapons stockade already.

:terriblestupidclosedmindedheadinthesandposting:

 

[ren hoek]

Photos of Mexico's Drug War:

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/05/mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years/100299/

 

[ren hoek]

I'm sure domestic drones in US airspace will NEVER be militarized. Just teargas and rubber bullets is all.

CBS DC

 

[Chaka]

I'm sure domestic drones in US airspace will NEVER be militarized. Just teargas and rubber bullets is all.

CBS DC

I was irate when I found out the FFA authorized those flights.

 

[ren hoek]

I'm sure domestic drones in US airspace will NEVER be militarized. Just teargas and rubber bullets is all.

CBS DC

I was irate when I found out the FFA authorized those flights.

I'm just thankful the FAA has allowed us to post on this messageboard all these years.

 

[NCCommish]

I'm sure domestic drones in US airspace will NEVER be militarized. Just teargas and rubber bullets is all.

CBS DC

I was irate when I found out the FFA authorized those flights.

When did we do that? I didn't get a vote.

 

[ren hoek]

The attack on Moore “appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back,” Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. “At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer’s weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm.”

“I did try to stay calm,” Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. “I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn’t stop.”

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

 

[Chaka]

The attack on Moore "appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back," Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. "At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer's weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm."

"I did try to stay calm," Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. "I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn't stop."

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

If all that is true it's insane.So wtf do we do about it?

 

[ren hoek]

The attack on Moore "appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back," Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. "At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer's weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm."

"I did try to stay calm," Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. "I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn't stop."

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

If all that is true it's insane.So wtf do we do about it?

I dunno man. There's not much in the way of accountability in government anymore. Police and federal agents trample on the Constitution & Bill of Rights all the time and there doesn't seem to be any legal recourse for it.

 

[NCCommish]

The attack on Moore "appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back," Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. "At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer's weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm."

"I did try to stay calm," Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. "I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn't stop."

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

If all that is true it's insane.So wtf do we do about it?

I dunno man. There's not much in the way of accountability in government anymore. Police and federal agents trample on the Constitution & Bill of Rights all the time and there doesn't seem to be any legal recourse for it.

Well when you demonize dissent that is what you get and that's why those in power do it.

 

[Chaka]

The attack on Moore "appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back," Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. "At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer's weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm."

"I did try to stay calm," Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. "I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn't stop."

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

If all that is true it's insane.So wtf do we do about it?

I dunno man. There's not much in the way of accountability in government anymore. Police and federal agents trample on the Constitution & Bill of Rights all the time and there doesn't seem to be any legal recourse for it.

That's what I find frustrating. As a citizen there would have been nothing I could do to intervene to help that man without getting thrown in jail and possibly beat down myself. Filming the incident is about the best I could think of but I don't see how these cops wouldn't have taken my phone and stomped it, and likely me.Stupid question: Is there any law that would allow a citizen's arrest upon a police officer that could be in any way be enforced in a situation like this?

 

[Chaka]

The attack on Moore "appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back," Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. "At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer's weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm."

"I did try to stay calm," Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. "I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn't stop."

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

If all that is true it's insane.So wtf do we do about it?

I dunno man. There's not much in the way of accountability in government anymore. Police and federal agents trample on the Constitution & Bill of Rights all the time and there doesn't seem to be any legal recourse for it.

Well when you demonize dissent that is what you get and that's why those in power do it.

Dude, stop being so unpatriotic.

 

[NCCommish]

The attack on Moore "appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back," Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. "At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer's weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm."

"I did try to stay calm," Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. "I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn't stop."

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

If all that is true it's insane.So wtf do we do about it?

I dunno man. There's not much in the way of accountability in government anymore. Police and federal agents trample on the Constitution & Bill of Rights all the time and there doesn't seem to be any legal recourse for it.

Well when you demonize dissent that is what you get and that's why those in power do it.

Dude, stop being so unpatriotic.

My bad

 

[ren hoek]

The attack on Moore "appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back," Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. "At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer's weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm."

"I did try to stay calm," Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. "I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn't stop."

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

If all that is true it's insane.So wtf do we do about it?

I dunno man. There's not much in the way of accountability in government anymore. Police and federal agents trample on the Constitution & Bill of Rights all the time and there doesn't seem to be any legal recourse for it.

That's what I find frustrating. As a citizen there would have been nothing I could do to intervene to help that man without getting thrown in jail and possibly beat down myself. Filming the incident is about the best I could think of but I don't see how these cops wouldn't have taken my phone and stomped it, and likely me.Stupid question: Is there any law that would allow a citizen's arrest upon a police officer that could be in any way be enforced in a situation like this?

I'm kind of amazed at how often the officers don't just delete the footage. Supposedly it's unlawful for them to do so but I don't see how that stops them. If they're able to just unilaterally beat people down and get away with it, that's pretty ####ed up. That's the only thing this country seems to be good at anymore is violence. It doesn't seem like cops have had to deal with criminal charges for most of this stuff.

I think the worst part is the sheep that dehumanize everything since it doesn't affect them, so they can go back to watching their reality tv shows.

 

[ren hoek]

The attack on Moore "appeared to be completely unprovoked and at no time was Mr. Moore fighting back," Polak – who has never spoken with the victim – related in her affidavit. "At no time did Mr. Moore try to attack an officer. At no time did Mr. Moore try to reach for an officer's weapon. Mr. Moore was surprisingly calm."

"I did try to stay calm," Moore, a Special Forces combat veteran, recalled to Pro Libertate. "I just tried to assure myself that the beating would eventually stop, and I just had to endure it patiently. But it didn't stop."

Denver cops flatline a former veteran, completely unprovoked

If all that is true it's insane.So wtf do we do about it?

I dunno man. There's not much in the way of accountability in government anymore. Police and federal agents trample on the Constitution & Bill of Rights all the time and there doesn't seem to be any legal recourse for it.

Well when you demonize dissent that is what you get and that's why those in power do it.

Yeah. I lost a lot of compassion for Occupy when they moved from protesting corporate money in politics, something everyone universally can agree is bad, to picketing for the state to bail them out. I think they were co-opted in much the same way the Tea Party was to make them look like a bunch of idiots. But I've always been thankful that someone is out there flexing their rights, even if I disagreed with them.

 

[ren hoek]

Why is the FDA allowed to have armed forces and conduct warrantless raids? Why on earth would any senator vote against this?

http://reason.com/blog/2012/05/24/here-are-the-15-senators-who-voted-to-st

 

[ren hoek]

The amendment Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced yesterday to demilitarize the FDA failed in the Senate today by a vote of 78-15.

Paul's amendment would have prohibited FDA employees (as well as all other Health and Human Services employees) from carrying weapons and making arrests without warrants.

"We have nearly 40 federal agencies that are armed. I’m not against having police, I’m not against the army, the military, the FBI, but I think bureaucrats don’t need to be carrying weapons and I think what we ought to do, is if there is a need for an armed policeman to be there, the FBI who are trained to do this should do it," Paul said yesterday on the Senate floor. "But I don’t think it’s a good idea to be arming bureaucrats to go on the farm to, with arms, to stop people from selling milk from a cow."

The amendment would also have allowed the makers of prune juice to advertise that their products help relieve constipation.

...And here's the roll call, which features zero Democrats in favor of ending armed raids on American farmers.

http://reason.com/blog/2012/05/24/rand-paul-amendment-to-demilitarize-the

 

[SacramentoBob]

Here you go Ren.

 

[ren hoek]

Here you go Ren.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjQKcwbTdY&

"there's no police state in america" -- idiots

 

[Christo]

Here you go Ren.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjQKcwbTdY&

"there's no police state in america" -- idiots

 

[ren hoek]

Here you go Ren.

Compare that to these guys.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

That's good advice Christo, but in reality police have a way of 'finding' just cause to search when you tell them 'no'.

Not unless they're really willing to hang something on you. Most are just looking for low hanging fruit. It falls in the "it never hurts to ask" column.

He allowed the officer to search. Why should he expect that having a large amount of cash is enough reason in itself to have it confiscated? I can't find the article now, but around two years ago, the Detroit Free Press had an article that Michigan's police are confiscating money and possessions are a record level. Many of the people having their possessions taken are not being charged or convicted of any crimes and many are finding it difficult to get their possessions back.

here's the FBG thread on the subject. (had to search seizures cuz foos spellt forfeiture wrong) this is the article

Police property seizures ensnare even the innocent<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Money raised by Metro Detroit agencies increases 50% in five years<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">George Hunter and Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Local law enforcement agencies are raising millions of dollars by seizing private property suspected in crimes, but often without charges being filed -- and sometimes even when authorities admit no offense was committed.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The money raised by confiscating goods in Metro Detroit soared more than 50 percent to at least $20.62 million from 2003 to 2007, according to a Detroit News analysis of records from 58 law enforcement agencies. In some communities, amounts raised went from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands -- and, in one case, into the millions.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"It's like legalized stealing," said Jacque Sutton, a 21-year-old college student from Mount Clemens whose 1989 Mustang was seized by Detroit police raiding a party. Charges against him and more than 100 others were dropped, but he still paid more than $1,000 to get the car back.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Advertisement<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"According to the law, I did nothing wrong -- but they're allowed to take my property anyway. It doesn't make sense."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">While courts have maintained the government's right to take property involved in crimes, police seizures -- also known as forfeitures -- are a growing source of friction in Michigan, especially as law enforcement agencies struggle to balance budgets.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"Police departments right now are looking for ways to generate revenue, and forfeiture is a way to offset the costs of doing business," said Sgt. Dave Schreiner, who runs Canton Township's forfeiture unit, which raised $343,699 in 2008. "You'll find that departments are doing more forfeitures than they used to because they've got to -- they're running out of money and they've got to find it somewhere."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The increase in property seizures merely is a byproduct of diligent law enforcement, some law enforcement officials say.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"We're trying to fight crime," said Police Chief Mike Pachla of Roseville, where the money raised from forfeitures jumped more than tenfold, from $33,890 to $393,014.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"We would be just as aggressive even if there wasn't any money involved."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Roseville had among the most dramatic increases over the five-year period examined by The News. But several other agencies also more than doubled their takes, including Novi, Trenton, Farmington Hills, Southfield, the Michigan State Police, Shelby Township, Livonia, Warren and Romulus.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The increase in money coming in leads to a higher percentage of the police budget being covered by seizures. In Roseville, the share of the police budget raised from forfeitures went from 0.3 percent to 4.2 percent. In Romulus, it jumped from 4.5 percent to 11.2 percent from 2003-2007, the most recent years for which comparable records were available. Some agencies said records weren't available.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Police and prosecutors profit because citizens must either pay to get their confiscated property back or lose their cars, homes and other seized assets to the arresting agencies, which auction them off.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The increased reliance on seized property to fund police operations amounts to a trade-off for law enforcement. The tough economy may be prompting law enforcement agencies to use an "entrepreneurial spirit," but that makes for bad public relations, said Tom Hendrickson, director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Courts support seizures<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The friction over seizures is a result of two competing legacies in U.S. law. While the Fourth Amendment, adopted in 1791, protects the right of citizens to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, the Supreme Court ruled in 1827 that a Spanish-owned ship could be seized after it fired on a U.S. vessel. Whether or not the crew was convicted, the brig was the principal offender, it ruled.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">And 169 years later, the nation's high court reaffirmed the notion when it ruled that a Royal Oak woman couldn't challenge the seizure of the family sedan after her husband was caught having sex with a prostitute inside, even though she didn't know the car was being used for that purpose.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Just last month, the high court heard the case of six people from Chicago who sought prompt hearings on the seizure of their cars and money. When a federal attorney told the court the government needs time to determine who owns a car and to investigate that person's connection to the criminal activity, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said: "I'm sorry. You take the car and then you investigate?"<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">A ruling, expected to come on procedural grounds, is due by the end of the Supreme Court's term in June and isn't expected to change law on property forfeiture.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"Unfortunately, the Supreme Court so far has ruled that they're not unconstitutional," said Kary Moss, director of the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Modern civil forfeiture laws originally were passed in the 1970s and 1980s to allow police to seize the means of committing crimes. For instance, if a drug dealer was using a boat to transport drugs, the law enabled officers to confiscate the vessel before the case went to trial.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">But the laws expanded over the years to allow the seizure of property that had only a loose connection to the alleged crime, and police now are taking property for infractions that would not have resulted in forfeitures in the past, including minor drug possession, gambling, drag racing, drunken driving and even loitering near illegal activity.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">While laws governing seizures by federal authorities have been reformed to make it more difficult for them to seize property, state legislatures, including Michigan's, have not followed suit.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office often makes people pay to get their seized property back without filing any charges -- and in some cases citizens such as Sutton must pay even though police and prosecutors admit they can't prove any law was broken. In his case, police raided a dance party they thought was a blind pig and issued tickets to more than 100 people, all of which were later dropped.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Prosecutor Kym Worthy declined comment, but issued a written statement explaining that she wants to get criminals off the street, and that the law allows her office to seize property without filing charges.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Canton's Sgt. Schreiner insisted forfeiture laws should be wielded responsibly.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"There's a right way and a wrong way to do forfeitures," he said. "First of all, you should always file charges; if you don't have a case against someone, you shouldn't seize their property.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"But even when there is a crime, the law should be used as it was intended. If we seize a computer that was used to commit identity fraud, that's a good thing. But if Joe Citizen complains that he was arrested for a small amount of drugs, and we took his refrigerator and silverware, then I think he has a valid complaint."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Agencies ramp up efforts<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Many of the increases in forfeitures obtained by local police agencies aren't the result of money hunting, officials say, although they also admit their efforts to take property have increased.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">When Romulus saw a 118 percent jump in forfeiture revenues from 2003-07, the increase was not the result of more criminal activity, Chief Michael St. Andre said.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"It's because our forfeiture efforts have ramped up in the past few years," he said.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Revenue was not a primary concern, he said, "but it is nice when we're able to purchase things we need from arrests.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"I don't have to go to the city and ask for things like bulletproof vests or computers."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">In Trenton, forfeitures hit a high of $874,499 in 2006. Police Chief William Lilienthal said his department joined a federal drug task force in 2005 that focused on assetseizures, which partially accounts for the increase.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Novi saw the biggest revenue increase in forfeiture revenues, going from $12,278 in 2003 to $2.7 million in 2007. But police officials said that spike is largely attributed to a 2005 arrest of a nationwide drug cartel that netted millions of dollars over a three-year period.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Yet adding to the dissent over seizures is that police agencies are able and even required to return the proceeds from forfeitures into more law enforcement activities, which can make a seizure look like a money-grab even if it isn't.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">That's risky business, said Hendrickson, who represents the state's chiefs of police.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"Police departments should never make revenue a prime concern," he said. "That undermines people's confidence in their police officers."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Under state law, police departments may use the funds raised from most seizures indiscriminately within their own departments, although drug forfeiture money must be put back into fighting drugs.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">But even that rule is being relaxed because of the tough economy. Earlier this year, Romulus police were able to purchase 16 new Dodge Chargers from drug forfeiture funds, which usually isn't allowed.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"They allowed it this year because the economy is so bad, it's an emergency situation," St. Andre said. "We contacted the DEA and asked permission to use that money to purchase vehicles."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">In Trenton, forfeiture revenues paid for a new firing range.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"Forfeitures are a way to help supplement your budgetary issues," Trenton Chief William Lilienthal said.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"You can't supplant your budget with them, but you can supplement it. If you need something, you can utilize those funds to purchase it."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">ghunter@detnews.com The Detroit News' Bridget Baulch and Mike Wilkinson contributed.

Good god.How is it possible to be THIS bad at the internet?

 

[Christo]

Here you go Ren.

 

[ren hoek]

I really like Jeffrey Tucker (right).

http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/are-you-the-next-prisoner/

Are You The Next Prisoner?

By Jeffrey Tucker May 25th, 2012

The United States is home to a gigantic socialist sector, larger and with a greater reach than any in the world, and it is fed by tax dollars and managed entirely by the government. Strangely, the opponents of socialized medicine and socialized industry don’t complain about it. In fact, all throughout the 1980s and 1990s, they urged its expansion.

It is called the prison system. It’s a fairly new system, but the cruelties of similar systems are so famed throughout history that they are spoken of by the Psalmist: “For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.”

The presumption in the Psalms is that prisoners are despised, ignored, forgotten, dismissed — and they are in our country, where this topic is not even on the list in the mainstream debate.

It’s stunning when you think about it. The “land of the free” is home to the world’s largest prison population. Americans constitute 5% of the world’s population, yet one-quarter of the entire world’s inmates are in the U.S. The ratio of the prison population to the general population is higher in than any other nation in the world. Russia is second. China is third.

If the jailed lived in one place, the 2.3 million would be the fourth largest American city, between Chicago and Houston. Every day, 35,948 people are newly incarcerated (source), and the only people who even bother to talk about it are considered to be on the fringe left, crazy people who can’t stop pleading for special interests.

Maybe we have more criminals who need to be locked up? It depends on how you define a criminal. Some two-thirds of people mired in the justice system (prison, probation, parole) are in for nonviolent offenses. Among federal prisoners, 91% are in for nonviolent crimes. No dictator in the world gets away with this.

And while the prison system as we know it came into existence in the early part of the 20th century, the trend toward mass imprisonment is relatively new. The numbers in prison are five times higher than in 1980, when the war on drugs really became a nationwide mania and sentencing became long and mandatory. Nearly the whole of the change is accounted for by these two facts alone. In 1980, 40,000 people were in the slammer for drug-related charges. Today, it is closer to half a million.

The statistics are not unknown. They have never been more accessible. But people hear these statistics and think: “Well, that seems like a lot of people, but hey, I’m not there and my friends and family aren’t there. Regardless, we are probably better off with too many people in jail, rather than too few. At least the streets are a bit safer than they otherwise might be. So let’s just forget about it, shall we?”

But it turns out to be very easy these days to trip over that wire that causes you to land in jail. The trouble is that you don’t know that until it happens. It could be a mistake that you or a family member made in handling too much cash. It could be a joint that someone smoked at your house party. It could be an unpaid ticket. It could be a tweet you sent that insulted a bureaucrat.

It could be the wrong download, upload or file-sharing act. Or maybe you lost your temper at the airport and said something you shouldn’t in the presence of a TSA agent. Maybe you acted on a stock tip that was slightly too revealing. Even the wrong glance at a cop could cause your life to unravel.

Any of these actions and thousands of others can cause you to become embroiled in a system you cannot control and cannot resist. You spend the night in jail. You are bailed, but there are endless legal battles ahead to get out of the thicket.

Your life suddenly becomes about keeping your freedom. You pay lawyers. You lose time from work going to hearings. You lose sleep with worry and have to take pills you never thought you would. Your finances are crushed. You can hardly think about anything else. This goes on for months and you are pretty much a wreck.

The whole thing seems crazy and preposterous. Why is the state focusing on you, rather than on real criminals? You are an easier and safer target. Plus, you broke the law. It is a dumb law and it is understandable that you broke it — and you would never do it again, even though many others who have done the same are out free — but you finally have to admit it: You are more guilty than innocent.

It comes time to plea-bargain. Your lawyers make a deal with the system. If you admit guilt, you will be let off. The sentence of 20 years, or whatever it happens to be, will likely be suspended. You agree to the deal, anything to bring an end to this hell. But something goes wrong. The judge sentences you anyway. Wait, this isn’t the way it is supposed to turn out! But now there is nothing you can do.

Then you find that the prison system is the crystallization of life under government control. Your Facebook, Twitter, email, phone number are all zapped. Freedoms of association, speech and press are entirely absent. Human rights don’t apply. The choices you can make about how to spend your time are allocated to you by wardens and at their discretion. Your person and labor are valued by no one in particular. Everything you consume — whether it is food or space — your masters regard as a favor granted.

Everyone who cares about you is outside the prison. The people on the inside do not care whether you live or die. And to your amazement and shock, you find that the prison is not filled with violent thugs, thieves and murderers. Most everyone is pretty much like you. They are people, real people with families and friends and lives, who were stopped by a cop and had forgotten to take the marijuana out of the glove box. They are people who exploded in a temporary rage at a bureaucrat. They are people who downloaded and shared the wrong files.

You discover an entire world behind walls, thousands of people just like you, and nearly all of them could be out living productive lives, caring for their families, contributing to life in their communities, living out their dreams on the outside. But here they are in this government institution — like millions of others in our time and throughout history — wasting away their lives in the name of some claim of “justice” that clearly does not exist.

The experience is enlightening and amazing. Prisoners are not who you thought they were. You want to get the news to everyone on the outside. You want to reveal this scandal to the world.

What do you say? The slogans that created this system — “the war on drugs,” “get tough on crime,” “zero tolerance,” “mandatory sentencing” — are about politics, not justice or humanitarianism, and they have nothing to do with the reality you see. It is a cruel system, completely out of control, and one with an immense human cost.

The prison system is a massive human rights violation. It has to be stopped.

But there’s a big problem: You can’t speak. You can’t act. You now know the truth, but now you also know that there is nothing you can do about it. And you also know that everyone on the outside pretty much thinks exactly how you used to think. They do not care.

Regards,

Jeffrey Tucker

 

[NCCommish]

It's very scary. Hard to believe so few are paying attention.

 

[Ilov80s]

2 interesting op-eds from the last couple days:

Obama’s ‘kill list’ is unchecked presidential power

The problem isn’t the leaks, it’s the policy. It’s the assertion of a presidential prerogative that the administration can target for death people it decides are terrorists — even American citizens — anywhere in the world, at any time, on secret evidence with no review...he president’s claim offends the spirit and letter of the Constitution and shreds the global laws of war.

Don't Prosecute Leakers Who Defend the Constitution

BY starting a criminal investigation of journalistic exposures of White House secrets, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is not merely threatening traditional press freedoms. He is trying to make it a crime to alert the public to secret presidential violations of the Constitution — greatly increasing the future risk of illegal executive action...

Is a willful leak “prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States” if the leaker is revealing to Americans that the president is violating the Constitution?

To ask the question is to answer it: The preservation of the Constitution serves as the very foundation of the “safety or interest” of the nation. Telling Americans about secret presidential actions that threaten our fundamental law should never be considered violations of the Espionage Act. Such leaks don’t endanger our national security. They promote it, by preserving our constitutional integrity.

 

[NCCommish]

I agree that the leaks are actually good for us in the long run. Stifling them is about making sure you don't get caught with your hands in the cookie jar. As for the kill list that is just ridiculous and seems very much out of line with our ideals as a nation. I wouldn't have supported it under any other president and I certainly don't with this one.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

This one's a doozy.

The cops set up staged drug buys at a concert venue, then arrested the venue's owner, took his property and all his money, and imprisoned him because he didn't do enough to stop the staged drug buys. (Since they took all his money, he couldn't afford to challenge the seizure of his property.)

 

[Chaka]

Good Lord.

 

[urbanhack]

That's good advice Christo, but in reality police have a way of 'finding' just cause to search when you tell them 'no'.

Not unless they're really willing to hang something on you. Most are just looking for low hanging fruit. It falls in the "it never hurts to ask" column.

He allowed the officer to search. Why should he expect that having a large amount of cash is enough reason in itself to have it confiscated? I can't find the article now, but around two years ago, the Detroit Free Press had an article that Michigan's police are confiscating money and possessions are a record level. Many of the people having their possessions taken are not being charged or convicted of any crimes and many are finding it difficult to get their possessions back.

here's the FBG thread on the subject. (had to search seizures cuz foos spellt forfeiture wrong) this is the article

Police property seizures ensnare even the innocent<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Money raised by Metro Detroit agencies increases 50% in five years<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">George Hunter and Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Local law enforcement agencies are raising millions of dollars by seizing private property suspected in crimes, but often without charges being filed -- and sometimes even when authorities admit no offense was committed.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The money raised by confiscating goods in Metro Detroit soared more than 50 percent to at least $20.62 million from 2003 to 2007, according to a Detroit News analysis of records from 58 law enforcement agencies. In some communities, amounts raised went from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands -- and, in one case, into the millions.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"It's like legalized stealing," said Jacque Sutton, a 21-year-old college student from Mount Clemens whose 1989 Mustang was seized by Detroit police raiding a party. Charges against him and more than 100 others were dropped, but he still paid more than $1,000 to get the car back.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Advertisement<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"According to the law, I did nothing wrong -- but they're allowed to take my property anyway. It doesn't make sense."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">While courts have maintained the government's right to take property involved in crimes, police seizures -- also known as forfeitures -- are a growing source of friction in Michigan, especially as law enforcement agencies struggle to balance budgets.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"Police departments right now are looking for ways to generate revenue, and forfeiture is a way to offset the costs of doing business," said Sgt. Dave Schreiner, who runs Canton Township's forfeiture unit, which raised $343,699 in 2008. "You'll find that departments are doing more forfeitures than they used to because they've got to -- they're running out of money and they've got to find it somewhere."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The increase in property seizures merely is a byproduct of diligent law enforcement, some law enforcement officials say.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"We're trying to fight crime," said Police Chief Mike Pachla of Roseville, where the money raised from forfeitures jumped more than tenfold, from $33,890 to $393,014.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"We would be just as aggressive even if there wasn't any money involved."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Roseville had among the most dramatic increases over the five-year period examined by The News. But several other agencies also more than doubled their takes, including Novi, Trenton, Farmington Hills, Southfield, the Michigan State Police, Shelby Township, Livonia, Warren and Romulus.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The increase in money coming in leads to a higher percentage of the police budget being covered by seizures. In Roseville, the share of the police budget raised from forfeitures went from 0.3 percent to 4.2 percent. In Romulus, it jumped from 4.5 percent to 11.2 percent from 2003-2007, the most recent years for which comparable records were available. Some agencies said records weren't available.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Police and prosecutors profit because citizens must either pay to get their confiscated property back or lose their cars, homes and other seized assets to the arresting agencies, which auction them off.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The increased reliance on seized property to fund police operations amounts to a trade-off for law enforcement. The tough economy may be prompting law enforcement agencies to use an "entrepreneurial spirit," but that makes for bad public relations, said Tom Hendrickson, director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Courts support seizures<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The friction over seizures is a result of two competing legacies in U.S. law. While the Fourth Amendment, adopted in 1791, protects the right of citizens to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, the Supreme Court ruled in 1827 that a Spanish-owned ship could be seized after it fired on a U.S. vessel. Whether or not the crew was convicted, the brig was the principal offender, it ruled.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">And 169 years later, the nation's high court reaffirmed the notion when it ruled that a Royal Oak woman couldn't challenge the seizure of the family sedan after her husband was caught having sex with a prostitute inside, even though she didn't know the car was being used for that purpose.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Just last month, the high court heard the case of six people from Chicago who sought prompt hearings on the seizure of their cars and money. When a federal attorney told the court the government needs time to determine who owns a car and to investigate that person's connection to the criminal activity, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said: "I'm sorry. You take the car and then you investigate?"<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">A ruling, expected to come on procedural grounds, is due by the end of the Supreme Court's term in June and isn't expected to change law on property forfeiture.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"Unfortunately, the Supreme Court so far has ruled that they're not unconstitutional," said Kary Moss, director of the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Modern civil forfeiture laws originally were passed in the 1970s and 1980s to allow police to seize the means of committing crimes. For instance, if a drug dealer was using a boat to transport drugs, the law enabled officers to confiscate the vessel before the case went to trial.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">But the laws expanded over the years to allow the seizure of property that had only a loose connection to the alleged crime, and police now are taking property for infractions that would not have resulted in forfeitures in the past, including minor drug possession, gambling, drag racing, drunken driving and even loitering near illegal activity.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">While laws governing seizures by federal authorities have been reformed to make it more difficult for them to seize property, state legislatures, including Michigan's, have not followed suit.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office often makes people pay to get their seized property back without filing any charges -- and in some cases citizens such as Sutton must pay even though police and prosecutors admit they can't prove any law was broken. In his case, police raided a dance party they thought was a blind pig and issued tickets to more than 100 people, all of which were later dropped.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Prosecutor Kym Worthy declined comment, but issued a written statement explaining that she wants to get criminals off the street, and that the law allows her office to seize property without filing charges.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Canton's Sgt. Schreiner insisted forfeiture laws should be wielded responsibly.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"There's a right way and a wrong way to do forfeitures," he said. "First of all, you should always file charges; if you don't have a case against someone, you shouldn't seize their property.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"But even when there is a crime, the law should be used as it was intended. If we seize a computer that was used to commit identity fraud, that's a good thing. But if Joe Citizen complains that he was arrested for a small amount of drugs, and we took his refrigerator and silverware, then I think he has a valid complaint."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Agencies ramp up efforts<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Many of the increases in forfeitures obtained by local police agencies aren't the result of money hunting, officials say, although they also admit their efforts to take property have increased.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">When Romulus saw a 118 percent jump in forfeiture revenues from 2003-07, the increase was not the result of more criminal activity, Chief Michael St. Andre said.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"It's because our forfeiture efforts have ramped up in the past few years," he said.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Revenue was not a primary concern, he said, "but it is nice when we're able to purchase things we need from arrests.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"I don't have to go to the city and ask for things like bulletproof vests or computers."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">In Trenton, forfeitures hit a high of $874,499 in 2006. Police Chief William Lilienthal said his department joined a federal drug task force in 2005 that focused on assetseizures, which partially accounts for the increase.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Novi saw the biggest revenue increase in forfeiture revenues, going from $12,278 in 2003 to $2.7 million in 2007. But police officials said that spike is largely attributed to a 2005 arrest of a nationwide drug cartel that netted millions of dollars over a three-year period.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Yet adding to the dissent over seizures is that police agencies are able and even required to return the proceeds from forfeitures into more law enforcement activities, which can make a seizure look like a money-grab even if it isn't.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">That's risky business, said Hendrickson, who represents the state's chiefs of police.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"Police departments should never make revenue a prime concern," he said. "That undermines people's confidence in their police officers."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">Under state law, police departments may use the funds raised from most seizures indiscriminately within their own departments, although drug forfeiture money must be put back into fighting drugs.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">But even that rule is being relaxed because of the tough economy. Earlier this year, Romulus police were able to purchase 16 new Dodge Chargers from drug forfeiture funds, which usually isn't allowed.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"They allowed it this year because the economy is so bad, it's an emergency situation," St. Andre said. "We contacted the DEA and asked permission to use that money to purchase vehicles."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">In Trenton, forfeiture revenues paid for a new firing range.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"Forfeitures are a way to help supplement your budgetary issues," Trenton Chief William Lilienthal said.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">"You can't supplant your budget with them, but you can supplement it. If you need something, you can utilize those funds to purchase it."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); "><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(243, 249, 246); ">ghunter@detnews.com The Detroit News' Bridget Baulch and Mike Wilkinson contributed.

Good god.How is it possible to be THIS bad at the internet?

 

[Slapdash]

2 interesting op-eds from the last couple days:

Obama’s ‘kill list’ is unchecked presidential power

The problem isn’t the leaks, it’s the policy. It’s the assertion of a presidential prerogative that the administration can target for death people it decides are terrorists — even American citizens — anywhere in the world, at any time, on secret evidence with no review...he president’s claim offends the spirit and letter of the Constitution and shreds the global laws of war.

Don't Prosecute Leakers Who Defend the Constitution

BY starting a criminal investigation of journalistic exposures of White House secrets, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is not merely threatening traditional press freedoms. He is trying to make it a crime to alert the public to secret presidential violations of the Constitution — greatly increasing the future risk of illegal executive action...

Is a willful leak “prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States” if the leaker is revealing to Americans that the president is violating the Constitution?

To ask the question is to answer it: The preservation of the Constitution serves as the very foundation of the “safety or interest” of the nation. Telling Americans about secret presidential actions that threaten our fundamental law should never be considered violations of the Espionage Act. Such leaks don’t endanger our national security. They promote it, by preserving our constitutional integrity.

Just awful. Daily Show had a good bit on this a couple of nights ago.

 

[Todd Andrews]

This one's a doozy.

The cops set up staged drug buys at a concert venue, then arrested the venue's owner, took his property and all his money, and imprisoned him because he didn't do enough to stop the staged drug buys. (Since they took all his money, he couldn't afford to challenge the seizure of his property.)

sickening. The asset forfeiture trend then craze that started in the 80's is out of control. It went from taking a Miami cocaine lord's cigarette boat to funding as much as half or more of small town police departments. Large stretches of this country are now zones where the local law enforcement lays in wait to attempt to seize the vehicles and assets of Americans.It is vile what a bunch of authority loving followers we have become in this country.

 

[ren hoek]

Ninth Circuit to DEA: Putting a gun to an 11-year old's head is not OK

At least they didn't shoot someone's dog this time.

 

[Christo]

Ninth Circuit to DEA: Putting a gun to an 11-year old's head is not OK

At least they didn't shoot someone's dog this time.

Doesn't that decision weigh in favor of the "we do not live in a police state" side?

 

[ren hoek]

Ninth Circuit to DEA: Putting a gun to an 11-year old's head is not OK

At least they didn't shoot someone's dog this time.

Doesn't that decision weigh in favor of the "we do not live in a police state" side?

Like a pebble to a cannonball.

 

[Christo]

Ninth Circuit to DEA: Putting a gun to an 11-year old's head is not OK

At least they didn't shoot someone's dog this time.

Doesn't that decision weigh in favor of the "we do not live in a police state" side?

Like a pebble to a cannonball.

So you agree.

 

[Ilov80s]

Ninth Circuit to DEA: Putting a gun to an 11-year old's head is not OK

At least they didn't shoot someone's dog this time.

Doesn't that decision weigh in favor of the "we do not live in a police state" side?

This last paragraph is interesting"As a side note: While this raid was conducted under President George W. Bush,the deputy administrator of the DEA at that time was Michele Leonhart. She is now the administrator of the DEA, thanks to an appointment by President Barack Obama. Furthermore, the Obama Administration could have declined to defend the DEA in this case. Instead, Obama's Justice Department has decided to make the case that federal agents should be allowed to hold guns to the heads of children."

 

[Hipple Long Ware & Peete]

Ninth Circuit to DEA: Putting a gun to an 11-year old's head is not OK

At least they didn't shoot someone's dog this time.

counterpoint

 

[SacramentoBob]

Ninth Circuit to DEA: Putting a gun to an 11-year old's head is not OK

At least they didn't shoot someone's dog this time.

Instead, Obama's Justice Department has decided to make the case that federal agents should be allowed to hold guns to the heads of children.

You'd think he'd be against this kind of thing.

 

[azgroover]

from Zerohedge

Guest Post: Military Rolls Tanks Onto St. Louis Streets...But Why?

I have to say that this event, which is being labeled a "training exercise", makes very little sense to me. U.S. Army troops all the way from Maryland running open exercises in armored personnel carriers on the busy streets of St. Louis? I know Maryland is a small state, but is there really not enough room at Ft. Detrick to accommodate a tank column and some troops? Are there not entire fake neighborhood and town complexes built with taxpayer dollars on military bases across the country meant to facilitate a realistic urban environment for troops to train in? And why travel hundreds of miles to Missouri? At the very least, this is a massive waste of funds.

On the other hand, such an action on the part of the Department of Defense makes perfect sense if the goal is to acclimate citizens to the idea of seeing tanks and armed military acting in a policing capacity. Just check out the two random idiots the local news affiliate picked to interview in St. Louis on the subject. Both state that they think the exercise is a "great idea", because having the military on the streets would help to "reduce crime":

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/us-military-to-run-urban-exercises-in-north-st-louis-residents-hope-it-will-cut-down-on-crime/

I suspect that the news affiliate did not go out of its way to get any counter-opinions, even though they admitted to being contacted by those voicing concerns over martial law.

Even so, it's sad and simultaneously terrifying that there are plenty of mindless dupes out there who do not understand the dangers of the Army crossing the Rubicon and acting in a civil law enforcement capacity, never mind that they are completely ignorant of the fact that it violates the Posse Comitatus Act. One of the interviewees even points out that in some countries they don't use police at all; only military. This is true. We call those countries "tyrannies"...

Add to the mix the reality that the DOD refuses to respond to any further inquiries by the press concerning details of the training, and you get yet another suspicious instance of behavior on the part of the establishment that seems preparatory for domestic action. I believe that the high frequency at which these activity reports have been coming in over the past year is certainly cause for alarm...

 

[Chaka]

from Zerohedge

Guest Post: Military Rolls Tanks Onto St. Louis Streets...But Why?

I have to say that this event, which is being labeled a "training exercise", makes very little sense to me. U.S. Army troops all the way from Maryland running open exercises in armored personnel carriers on the busy streets of St. Louis? I know Maryland is a small state, but is there really not enough room at Ft. Detrick to accommodate a tank column and some troops? Are there not entire fake neighborhood and town complexes built with taxpayer dollars on military bases across the country meant to facilitate a realistic urban environment for troops to train in? And why travel hundreds of miles to Missouri? At the very least, this is a massive waste of funds.

On the other hand, such an action on the part of the Department of Defense makes perfect sense if the goal is to acclimate citizens to the idea of seeing tanks and armed military acting in a policing capacity. Just check out the two random idiots the local news affiliate picked to interview in St. Louis on the subject. Both state that they think the exercise is a "great idea", because having the military on the streets would help to "reduce crime":

http://www.thegatewa...-down-on-crime/

I suspect that the news affiliate did not go out of its way to get any counter-opinions, even though they admitted to being contacted by those voicing concerns over martial law.

Even so, it's sad and simultaneously terrifying that there are plenty of mindless dupes out there who do not understand the dangers of the Army crossing the Rubicon and acting in a civil law enforcement capacity, never mind that they are completely ignorant of the fact that it violates the Posse Comitatus Act. One of the interviewees even points out that in some countries they don't use police at all; only military. This is true. We call those countries "tyrannies"...

Add to the mix the reality that the DOD refuses to respond to any further inquiries by the press concerning details of the training, and you get yet another suspicious instance of behavior on the part of the establishment that seems preparatory for domestic action. I believe that the high frequency at which these activity reports have been coming in over the past year is certainly cause for alarm...

Who you callin' a ####y communist?

 

[NCCommish]

from Zerohedge

Guest Post: Military Rolls Tanks Onto St. Louis Streets...But Why?

I have to say that this event, which is being labeled a "training exercise", makes very little sense to me. U.S. Army troops all the way from Maryland running open exercises in armored personnel carriers on the busy streets of St. Louis? I know Maryland is a small state, but is there really not enough room at Ft. Detrick to accommodate a tank column and some troops? Are there not entire fake neighborhood and town complexes built with taxpayer dollars on military bases across the country meant to facilitate a realistic urban environment for troops to train in? And why travel hundreds of miles to Missouri? At the very least, this is a massive waste of funds.

On the other hand, such an action on the part of the Department of Defense makes perfect sense if the goal is to acclimate citizens to the idea of seeing tanks and armed military acting in a policing capacity. Just check out the two random idiots the local news affiliate picked to interview in St. Louis on the subject. Both state that they think the exercise is a "great idea", because having the military on the streets would help to "reduce crime":

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/us-military-to-run-urban-exercises-in-north-st-louis-residents-hope-it-will-cut-down-on-crime/

I suspect that the news affiliate did not go out of its way to get any counter-opinions, even though they admitted to being contacted by those voicing concerns over martial law.

Even so, it's sad and simultaneously terrifying that there are plenty of mindless dupes out there who do not understand the dangers of the Army crossing the Rubicon and acting in a civil law enforcement capacity, never mind that they are completely ignorant of the fact that it violates the Posse Comitatus Act. One of the interviewees even points out that in some countries they don't use police at all; only military. This is true. We call those countries "tyrannies"...

Add to the mix the reality that the DOD refuses to respond to any further inquiries by the press concerning details of the training, and you get yet another suspicious instance of behavior on the part of the establishment that seems preparatory for domestic action. I believe that the high frequency at which these activity reports have been coming in over the past year is certainly cause for alarm...

Yeah that doesn't sound at all good.

 

[ren hoek]

Nice trailer for a documentary about the war on drugs, The House I Live In.

"Of the 2,600 people I've sent to federal prison, I've seen 3-4 kingpins. We're incarcerating poor people"

http://youtu.be/a0atL1HSwi8

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

this is all pretty much ronald regan's/the republicans fault. Just say no. Drug free workplace all that bull####.

Here is michigan in particular you better get busted in wayne county which has detroit in its jurisdiction. Get busted in the more "affluent" northern metro-detroit counties of macob and oakland county and you are screwed, why? becuase the lawyers and judges up there basically own the rehab centers and are stakeholders in the privately held prisons.

 

[ren hoek]

from Zerohedge

Guest Post: Military Rolls Tanks Onto St. Louis Streets...But Why?

I have to say that this event, which is being labeled a "training exercise", makes very little sense to me. U.S. Army troops all the way from Maryland running open exercises in armored personnel carriers on the busy streets of St. Louis? I know Maryland is a small state, but is there really not enough room at Ft. Detrick to accommodate a tank column and some troops? Are there not entire fake neighborhood and town complexes built with taxpayer dollars on military bases across the country meant to facilitate a realistic urban environment for troops to train in? And why travel hundreds of miles to Missouri? At the very least, this is a massive waste of funds.

On the other hand, such an action on the part of the Department of Defense makes perfect sense if the goal is to acclimate citizens to the idea of seeing tanks and armed military acting in a policing capacity. Just check out the two random idiots the local news affiliate picked to interview in St. Louis on the subject. Both state that they think the exercise is a "great idea", because having the military on the streets would help to "reduce crime":

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/us-military-to-run-urban-exercises-in-north-st-louis-residents-hope-it-will-cut-down-on-crime/

I suspect that the news affiliate did not go out of its way to get any counter-opinions, even though they admitted to being contacted by those voicing concerns over martial law.

Even so, it's sad and simultaneously terrifying that there are plenty of mindless dupes out there who do not understand the dangers of the Army crossing the Rubicon and acting in a civil law enforcement capacity, never mind that they are completely ignorant of the fact that it violates the Posse Comitatus Act. One of the interviewees even points out that in some countries they don't use police at all; only military. This is true. We call those countries "tyrannies"...

Add to the mix the reality that the DOD refuses to respond to any further inquiries by the press concerning details of the training, and you get yet another suspicious instance of behavior on the part of the establishment that seems preparatory for domestic action. I believe that the high frequency at which these activity reports have been coming in over the past year is certainly cause for alarm...

Jesus.

 

[ren hoek]

Mom arrested and confined to a cell for 18 hours. For letting her kids play outside.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/Mom-sues-local-police-over-arrest/-/1735978/16528610/-/tsvmg6/-/index.html

I hope the snitch that dropped the dime on her is the subject of many meme pics.

 

[ren hoek]

Virginia judge sentenced to 30 days in prison for growing 41 marijuana plants.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/10/virginia-judge-sentenced-to-30-days-for-growing-41-marijuana-plants/

I'm kind of conflicted on this. On one hand it's embarrassing that this veteran should have to spend time in a rape cage for growing a particular type of vegetation. On the other hand, it's disgraceful that this guy's life would be ruined if he was a black dude. This is what justice looks like in da USA.

 

[ren hoek]

http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/14/new-hampshire-jury-acquits-pot-growing-r

New Hampshire Jury Acquits Pot-Growing Rastafarian

Jacob Sullum|Sep. 14, 2012 1:00 pm

A few months ago, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed a bill declaring that "in all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy." Although the new law does not take effect until next January, a case decided yesterday in Belknap County illustrates the importance of the nullification power it recognizes. A jury unanimously acquitted Doug Darrell, a 59-year-old Rastafarian charged with marijuana cultivation, after his lawyer, Mark Sisti, argued that a conviction would be unjust in light of the fact that Darrell was growing cannabis for his own religious and medicinal use. More remarkably, Judge James O'Neill instructed the jury that "even if you find that the State has proven each and every element of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, you may still find the defendant not guilty if you have a conscientious feeling that a not guilty verdict would be a fair result in this case."

That is New Hampshire's model jury instruction on the nullification issue, but each judge has discretion whether to give it. In this case, since Sisti argued in favor of nullification and the prosecutor, Stacey Kaelin, argued against it, O'Neill agreed to clarify the law by giving an explicit instruction. The jury, which deliberated for six hours on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, twice asked to hear the instruction again. Sisti, who has been practicing law for 33 years, says this is the first time he has persuaded a judge to tell jurors they have the power to vote their consciences. He hopes the new law will make such instructions more common, if not standard.

Darrell was arrested in 2009 after members of a marijuana eradication task force spotted his plants from a National Guard helicopter flying over his home in Barnstead. Sisti tried unsuccessfully to have the evidence suppressed, aguing that the aerial surveillance was illegal because the helicopter flew below what the Federal Aviation Administration considers a safe altitude, thereby violating Darrell's reasonable expectation of privacy. The Belknap County Attorney's Office, evidently eager to get rid of a case that involved just 15 plants and no distribution, offered Darrell a series of increasingly lenient plea deals, culminating in an offer that entailed a misdemeanor guilty plea with no jail time or fine. Darrell turned all the offers down, Sisti said, because "he didn't think he was guilty of anything; it's a sacrament in his religion." Instead he went to trial on a charge of manufacturing a controlled drug, a Class B felony that carries a penalty of three and a half to seven years in prison. Darrell's first trial ended in a mistrial last November due to prosecutorial error. His second trial ended in yesterday's acquittal.

"Cases like this shouldn't be brought," Sisti says. "And when they are brought, I think that safety valve, that nullification safety valve, is very important. Other states had better start waking up, because without it, people are going to be convicted of very serious charges through hypocrisy. The jury's going to think they can't do anything else, and that's wrong."

[Thanks to Jason and Jared Bedrick for the tip.]

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine and a nationally syndicated columnist.

Follow Jacob Sullum on twitter @jacobsullum

 

[azgroover]

This vid is causing quite a stir on my fb page this morning.

Kid walking down the street with a gun. Someone calls the police to check it out, kid wants to know what crime he's being charged with, hilarity ensues.