2012 ALMOST happened to me as I flew from one city to another with $30k cash in my pocket to buy my "Dream Ride". Cash Only deal on a Sunday. TSA person asked me to empty my pockets and there was the cash. Just as he went for it while beginning to explain why it would no longer be mine - BIG COMMOTION involving wrestling with a traveler 2 stalls over. This guy BOLTED toward the action. I hollered "Can I go?". He gave me a fast thumbs up, never missing a step. I arrived with the cash and I still have my Dream Ride. But this story gives me shivers from the "what if" part of my brain...
you got lucky, that money was gone until that fight. For future reference don't keep the cash in your pocket, tape it to the inside of your leg or some other part of your body under your clothes. Unless they do a pat down they wont find it.
It's sickening that the government thugs can do this it's time we the people defend OUR RIGHTS AND THAT INCLUDES DEATH TO THESE GOVERNMENT TRAITORS on the spot if necessary for us to keep our property and our rights it's the only way this crap will stop if they start to die on the spot for trying to steal our stuff
this kinda thing should never have been allowed in the first place. the fact that it is now endemic to law enforcement practices through the US is appalling.
@@tommercer3226 HaHa. You got that right. It's a shame when you think about the effective and well-run police departments across America. Their profession is besmirched by ill tempered, poorly trained, and mismanaged departments.
Same thing happened to a nurse in Houston who was traveling overseas to open a free clinic. She is also a client of the same legal organization and filed a class-action suit; thankfully, she got the money back. As for attorney's fees, that should come out of the paychecks of every single DEA agent or other LEO involved. Let them hurt for awhile.
There is a video about the lady depositing cash for her dad on youtube but basically she visited her dad, who was in his 80's and didn't trust banks, on Sunday she was getting ready to leave and her dad brought an envelope of cash that he had stashed in his basement and asked her to take care of it. She called airport, explained situation and they told her no problem but when she got to airport, they interviewed her several times, called her dad and confirmed the story; but they just decided they didn't like that story and stole the money at the last minute before her flight was called.
My wife and I used to travel between many countries. I have flown from Japan to Germany though the U.S. and we used to carry cash in 4 or 5 different currency at one tine. This was when we had no checking account or credit cards and lived on cash when we travel. I am glad there was not homeland security . We paid for or expenses, rent a place to live, buy a vehicle and pay for every expenses that is involved in a move. If DEA had this power decades ago, they would have broke us. We feel safe to travel in other countries, we do not feel safe traveling with big brother searching and controlling our moves and what we travel with. When homeland security started, we stopped traveling by air.
The fix should also be that any collected assets go to the next higher (at least) level of Government, up to the Michigan General fund. Or the value of any seized assets be subtracted from any government funding of the organization.
@@duffahtolla that...is a sensible idea, but it may prompt ambitious fraudsters to put themselves on the receiving end of that money. Still, your idea would effectively disincentivize the authorities to act as thugs.👌
Taxpayers, that is You and Me, pay those damages and attorney fee's. You need to sue the Individual Officer to get justice. Qualified Immunity helps these Officers avoid Justice.
Taxpayers don't pay it unless the budget is increased for the bureau specifically to pay the lawsuits. Otherwise they just get to use less of their budget for other things, and they won't like that.
@@marks814 QI is supposed to protect authorities against honest mistakes, but it's used as a license to do whatever they want. The alternative is without qualified immunity, cops probably wouldn't take necessary initiatives where time could be a factor.
@@HH-ru4bj Right. Qualified immunity should be void in situations resulting from intent or gross negligence. It's sad that our legislators care so little for us peasants that they won't fix such issues.
Thanks for posting everything you find about Civil Asset Forfeiture. It is a blight on the foundation of our freedoms that this can even happen. Any legislators that support it, should have it happen to them.
Government agencies should be required to return treble the amount seized if they can't justify the seizure with solid evidence -- not just rank suspicion.
That would just be a tax on the people. Instead, I'd argue, they are not performing their jobs, nor acting as a public agent when they confiscated, aka stole, the money. Since the confiscation was not part of their duties, hold the individuals criminally responsible. The practice would end really fast .
Start seizing the vehicles of cops/judges/senators BASED ON MERE SUSPICION OF SOME UNSPECIFIED ILLEGAL ACTIVITY and watch Civil Asset Forfeiture get outlawed by tomorrow.
I've heard of several people who had their money robbed from them... excuse me, "confiscated under civil forfeiture" from them. One guy who was traveling to another state to buy a classic motorcycle had his $20,000 taken from him at the airport. I still haven't heard if he got any of that back. With police departments needing all the support that they can get these confiscations do nothing but further the anger at police.
How much of the police budget goes to pensions? They should have to fund their own retirement like pretty much everyone else does. That goes for all government employees.
Having interned at the Wayne County CAF division, I can confidently tell you the ability to take property without reasonable suspicion SHOULD BE ILLEGAL! Thanks for continuing to run these forfeiture stories! Doubtful it will happen in the next few years though.
There is a news station in Tennessee that did a series on Civil Asset Forfeiture called "Policing for Profit"- it's here on RUclips. They had a dedicated group of officers that would pull over anyone from out of state and seize whatever cash they found.
Yes, they even doled out sections of highway for agencies (e.g., county sheriffs) who didn't border the highway. Then they split the proceeds. Blatant criminality
Oklahoma amended its law in 2015 to allow judges to award attorney fees to people whose assets were found to be unjustly seized by law enforcement. Arizona has a similar provision in its comprehensive 2017 law.
There is also a significant drop in the amount of asset forfeiture in places that do NOT allow the law enforcement to keep portions of the seizure... I'm sure that's just a coincidence though.
I had seen Steve's previous videos on this subject. So I was aware of the issue when I had to pick up $15,000 in cash from the coroner's office from a deceased relative. You can be sure I drove extra carefully to the nearest bank.
They have not seen a Civil Asset Forfiture case based on the 14th amendment (Due Process). Usually what happens is if there is a challenge a long those lines the money is returned before it gets to court. In the Tombs v. Indiana case the case evolved around excessive fines. The asset was valued at $40,000 and the fine was only $10,000. Clarence Thomas said he would like to see a case based on Due Process but one hasn't reached the SCOTUS yet. This was back around March 2019.
Steve, you mentioned Institute for Justice a couple of times in this vlog. Why not let people know they can help fight Civil Asset Forfeiture by donating to the people that fight it?
Can you sue for defamation if they call you a drug smuggler. You seized my money for being the fruit of drug smuggling, that is the same as calling me a drug smuggler.
I live near Tampa, and this was the lead story a few nights ago. Thanks to your channel, I’ve gotten an extensive education on Civil Asset Forfeiture. Thank you for continuing to share this information with us. bTW, where is Turkey Elbow, KY? 🤣
Law Enforcement Officers at EVERY level should be utterly ashamed... They owe a lot more to the Civilians then just an,,, 'OK, you can have your money back THIS time', attitude... Our "heroes" in Blue have a habit of intruding in your life, for no good reason, bringing hardship and suffering... being rewarded for it,,, and never enduring a negative consequence
IF they are "heroes in blue(like you say)" AND/OR intrude on your life.......... They "are not 'heroes in blue' in my book. "Zeros in blue" and that is being nice calling them zeros.
THAT WILL EVENTUALLY GET PEOPLE KILLED. SOMEbody with either too much, or nothing to lose, will explode and kill right there on site, one of these times !!!! That won't do THEM any good....but this has to be stopped !!!!
Those people don't think like we do. They work for the government: great pay, great benefits, health care, vacation time, retirement provided for. They see "you" as "them". You're not part of their gang. We The People are a resource to be harvested.
It's just a job to them. In their mind set "You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette." Plus they have to deal with society criminals, and forget how to treat honest people.
Few years back there was an elderly couple in a small town who ran the general store for decades. As was their practice for years, once a week they would go and deposit the weekly sales at the bank which usually ran in the $6k to $9k per week. The IRS came in and seized all the money in their bank accounts because they suspected "structuring" which is making a series of deposits under $10k to bypass the bank reporting laws. No charges were ever filed and as in this case, the federal government said, sue us if you want it back. A lot of the time the government agency, when they know there is no evidence will then try to negotiate to only giving you back part of it.
I remember getting a strange look from TSA in Tampa on my way to New York. He patted me down and asked what are the objects in my pockets. I told him money and he had me take it out, his eyes bugged out when he saw stacks of new $100 bills. He asked what was it for and I told him I was on my way to purchase a couple of machine guns, he stopped abruptly and I was on my way.....The return trip wasn't as smooth as I had to deal with the Port Authority Police at JFK airport.
More than a century ago they were called “Highwaymen “ not federal officers. Oh, and the Margarita machine manufacturers would suffer if you changed the law and said they couldn’t keep the money.
Once again, you nailed it. Happen to me in Dallas as custom and Border protection at the gate search my carry on for cash they kept asking me for my employment status,place of living and so many other questions I just stood for my right and stated “I do not concentrate to a search without a warrant and I don’t answer questions “ Lucky me nothing to serious to report, 20 minutes later I was on my way.
@@ianbattles7290 its because the property rights are not what one may think they are. There is no such thing as being free and having rights. Your awarded a fallacy in life. Its perception manipulation.
Another example, after major hurricanes cash is king. The difference is probably that whoever tried civil asset forfeiture at the time everyone is carrying cash will probably not make it back to the station.
Politicians will side with whoever they think will allow them to keep their job. Sometimes that is the people (sadly not always, but in a democracy there's a better chance of it).
4:09 I thought the government could 'disrupt organized crime' by simply arresting, convicting, and imprisoning... But I guess there's no money for them that way. Grrr
You are correct, Steve. This message needs to be sent to the lawmakers repeatedly, on a regular basis. They don't know if we don't tell them. You write the message, I'll volunteer to help by sending it (email) every week to whomever you suggest within reason. I'm 78 years old and can't email more than a million or two per week. OK? Ask for others to help and we'll see how far we can go toward righting this wrong. I live in Carrollton, Ga. Let me know. Thanks.
Seizures with charges filed, and forfeiture on conviction? That makes legal sense, only if those assets are returned WITHOUT PENALTY upon acquittal. "Gimme your car and the money in your wallet." is robbery, with or without a badge.
Even crazier is that asset forfeiture is supposed to take I'll gotten gains from criminals. Meanwhile actual convicted criminals are routinely ordered by a judge as part of their sentence to pay restitution to victims but restitution is not enforced. So, you have people and businesses owed money due to crime, and a pot of money collected via seizure when law enforcement suspects money might be unlawfully obtained. So instead of taking the unlawfully obtained money and giving it to the victims our government uses that money for a slush fund and tells victims to try collecting from someone in prison or doesn't have the means to reimburse their victims. Almost makes me think the government is not even attempting to appear to serve the public good.
Want to end asset forfeiture fast? Require a court hearing within in two weeks and require the government to pay 20% interest from the minute the money is seized.
It was admitted to bring more of terrorism or a hate crime. As it was politically motivated to silence political opposition to Nixon, both hippies (anti-war) and blacks (Democrats). Heads should roll.
Steve this has happened to me once. The cop flat out told me if i did not look like a drug dealer then he would have never stoped me. He took 4,000 in cash and what i would have priced at 10,000 in old and rare coins from me. Told me if i did not like it to do something about it. At the time i was 25 what did i know. After a few months of fighting i got most of every thing back. There where a few coins missing. I was told they must have fell out sorry. You have to be a law maker to write a law. Oh wait get the government to write a law that stops them from getting free money are you nuts. It will never happen. You know how to word laws why dont you write one and take it to your state rep and see what you get. I dare you
East Jesus, Pennsylvania... Bumfuck, Egypt... And now, Turkey Elbow, Kentucky ('bout seventy miles Southwest of Frankfurt, I reckon). This show is so educational. Thanks.
Some states require that you file a protest within as little as 20 days. Some states require that a protesting citizen post a bond covering a portion of the assets seized.
jquest43 He was referring to what Steve said about tying all asset forfeiture to a criminal activity and a conviction. If you tie the forfeiture to those things, there will be more incentive to falsely prosecute and convict people in an effort to keep the money.
Charges still have to be proven through due process of law, and legally one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Will corrupt people try to work around that still? Of course, but it would be a lot harder. It would still be an improvement.
I guess as a Canadian I am lucky. We have asset forfeiture. But it is a criminal charge, Possession of assets obtained by crime. If your guilty they can take your stuff .
Sadly you still can have money taken at a airport. Had cops pull me off to question why i had 10k for a 3 month trip overseas . Legit held for hours that they didnt beleive me it cost 10k to live overseas for 3 months
Eleven states-California, Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont-require a criminal conviction (proof beyond a reasonable doubt) to engage in some or all forfeiture proceedings. California, Iowa and Ohio exclude property valued under a certain amount from the criminal conviction requirement. North Carolina, New Mexico and Nebraska have abolished civil forfeiture entirely.
Abolishing civil asset forfeiture and ending qualified immunity would solve 90% of the policing problems in this country. Our state legislators are disingenuous and derelict for not addressing them long ago.
If this were a bill being debated in a legislative forum, I'd offer up one friendly amendment to switching wholly to criminal asset forfeiture requiring a conviction. The reason this cropped up so much in recent decades was the war on drugs; the notion that the criminals who owned the money were in jurisdictions we couldn't touch. We can still keep that aspect by adding a subsection that the forfeiture requires criminal charges, and giving a timeframe -- say, one year -- in which the owner has to appear in court to dispute the charges, or the forfeiture goes through even without a conviction. Personally, I'd go a lot further: I want a US Constitutional amendment barring any "for profit" incentives in any aspect of our criminal justice system. No more profiteering from asset forfeiture, no more for-profit prisons, etc.
Let me offer a different angle to this and tell me how you would proceed: The police are watching someone they strongly believe to be a drug dealer. He has recently bought a $1M house, he has a $500,000 sports car, he buys expensive clothes, he pays for everything in cash, but he has no job, pays no taxes, and is never the one who gets busted with drugs on him. This is the situation that Civil Asset Forfeiture was created for. The police do not have enough legal proof for a conviction, beyond a reasonable doubt, or even probable cause for an arrest. This evidence as I described to you, does not even meet Reasonal Suspicion levels for a legal detainment. These were the types of assets that were confiscated in the 80's when these laws got created. Today... In Philadelphia, the average amount of a Civil Asset forfeiture case is $300... just a poor man's paycheck. How do you still allow the police to confiscate the big assets, without hurting the little guy?
@@TEverettReynolds I'm not sure I agree that this is what CAF was created for, but that's outside the policy discussion you're raising. For your hypothetical, I'd be comfortable letting it fall to the police (and a probable referral to the IRS!) to pursue the suspect. The police can surveil and eventually get their evidence; the IRS can pursue the tax issues on undeclared income. The odds are very, very strong that they can catch our putative dealer at some point. And at the end of the day, if they can't find the evidence? I'd rather let a very few criminals go free than penalize lots of the innocent. That's a policy trade-off and greatly a matter of subjectivity, but it's the point on the spectrum where I'd design the law if I had the authority.
2012 ALMOST happened to me as I flew from one city to another with $30k cash in my pocket to buy my "Dream Ride". Cash Only deal on a Sunday. TSA person asked me to empty my pockets and there was the cash. Just as he went for it while beginning to explain why it would no longer be mine - BIG COMMOTION involving wrestling with a traveler 2 stalls over. This guy BOLTED toward the action. I hollered "Can I go?". He gave me a fast thumbs up, never missing a step. I arrived with the cash and I still have my Dream Ride. But this story gives me shivers from the "what if" part of my brain...
you got lucky, that money was gone until that fight. For future reference don't keep the cash in your pocket, tape it to the inside of your leg or some other part of your body under your clothes. Unless they do a pat down they wont find it.
@@userac-xpg I know that now! Dang, hard to believe I was THAT naive
I wonder if the commotion due to some other TSA puke grabbing someone's cash and that someone decided to contest the grab?
Dodged a bullet. For sure.
It's sickening that the government thugs can do this it's time we the people defend OUR RIGHTS AND THAT INCLUDES DEATH TO THESE GOVERNMENT TRAITORS on the spot if necessary for us to keep our property and our rights it's the only way this crap will stop if they start to die on the spot for trying to steal our stuff
Another black eye for law enforcement.... This kind of thing needs to be fixed NOW.
this kinda thing should never have been allowed in the first place. the fact that it is now endemic to law enforcement practices through the US is appalling.
pretty sure they ve run out of eyes to blacken
This would be the real defund the police
@@tommercer3226 HaHa. You got that right. It's a shame when you think about the effective and well-run police departments across America. Their profession is besmirched by ill tempered, poorly trained, and mismanaged departments.
Biden will make it even worse.
Same thing happened to a nurse in Houston who was traveling overseas to open a free clinic. She is also a client of the same legal organization and filed a class-action suit; thankfully, she got the money back.
As for attorney's fees, that should come out of the paychecks of every single DEA agent or other LEO involved. Let them hurt for awhile.
There is a video about the lady depositing cash for her dad on youtube but basically she visited her dad, who was in his 80's and didn't trust banks, on Sunday she was getting ready to leave and her dad brought an envelope of cash that he had stashed in his basement and asked her to take care of it. She called airport, explained situation and they told her no problem but when she got to airport, they interviewed her several times, called her dad and confirmed the story; but they just decided they didn't like that story and stole the money at the last minute before her flight was called.
Sad
Of course the airport would tell her to bring cash. Any law that can be abused will be abused.
Sadly, if she had a Service Dog with her, the Feds would have shot it and claimed it barked at them!
My wife and I used to travel between many countries. I have flown from Japan to Germany though the U.S. and we used to carry cash in 4 or 5 different currency at one tine. This was when we had no checking account or credit cards and lived on cash when we travel. I am glad there was not homeland security . We paid for or expenses, rent a place to live, buy a vehicle and pay for every expenses that is involved in a move. If DEA had this power decades ago, they would have broke us. We feel safe to travel in other countries, we do not feel safe traveling with big brother searching and controlling our moves and what we travel with. When homeland security started, we stopped traveling by air.
If they tie asset forfeiture to criminal convictions expect a lot more innocent people to have drugs planted on them.
The fix should also be that any collected assets go to the next higher (at least) level of Government, up to the Michigan General fund. Or the value of any seized assets be subtracted from any government funding of the organization.
That's definitely worse. It also effectively eviscerates justice.
How about if they tie it to criminal convictions and then require that the seized cash be donated to random 501c (not 501c3) charities?
@@duffahtolla that...is a sensible idea, but it may prompt ambitious fraudsters to put themselves on the receiving end of that money. Still, your idea would effectively disincentivize the authorities to act as thugs.👌
That idea has been around for a long time too. Even before the war on drugs, feds and cops have been seizing money after they plant evidence.
If we could sue for damages and attorneys fees, this illegal practice would stop!
Taxpayers, that is You and Me, pay those damages and attorney fee's. You need to sue the Individual Officer to get justice. Qualified Immunity helps these Officers avoid Justice.
Taxpayers don't pay it unless the budget is increased for the bureau specifically to pay the lawsuits. Otherwise they just get to use less of their budget for other things, and they won't like that.
@@marks814 QI is supposed to protect authorities against honest mistakes, but it's used as a license to do whatever they want.
The alternative is without qualified immunity, cops probably wouldn't take necessary initiatives where time could be a factor.
Why can't the victims sue for interest? It is essentially a forced loan, assuming they get the money back.
@@HH-ru4bj Right. Qualified immunity should be void in situations resulting from intent or gross negligence. It's sad that our legislators care so little for us peasants that they won't fix such issues.
When are they going to return it and how many hoops is this poor lady going to have to jump through.
Thanks for posting everything you find about Civil Asset Forfeiture. It is a blight on the foundation of our freedoms that this can even happen. Any legislators that support it, should have it happen to them.
Government agencies should be required to return treble the amount seized if they can't justify the seizure with solid evidence -- not just rank suspicion.
That would just be a tax on the people.
Instead, I'd argue, they are not performing their jobs, nor acting as a public agent when they confiscated, aka stole, the money.
Since the confiscation was not part of their duties, hold the individuals criminally responsible.
The practice would end really fast .
Remove the incentive, the problem goes away.
Start seizing the vehicles of cops/judges/senators BASED ON MERE SUSPICION OF SOME UNSPECIFIED ILLEGAL ACTIVITY and watch Civil Asset Forfeiture get outlawed by tomorrow.
I've heard of several people who had their money robbed from them... excuse me, "confiscated under civil forfeiture" from them. One guy who was traveling to another state to buy a classic motorcycle had his $20,000 taken from him at the airport. I still haven't heard if he got any of that back. With police departments needing all the support that they can get these confiscations do nothing but further the anger at police.
Yes, the police wonder why they don't get more public support. Well, they earn the hate one civil rights violation at a time.
How much of the police budget goes to pensions? They should have to fund their own retirement like pretty much everyone else does. That goes for all government employees.
Having interned at the Wayne County CAF division, I can confidently tell you the ability to take property without reasonable suspicion SHOULD BE ILLEGAL! Thanks for continuing to run these forfeiture stories! Doubtful it will happen in the next few years though.
There is a news station in Tennessee that did a series on Civil Asset Forfeiture called "Policing for Profit"- it's here on RUclips. They had a dedicated group of officers that would pull over anyone from out of state and seize whatever cash they found.
Yes, they even doled out sections of highway for agencies (e.g., county sheriffs) who didn't border the highway. Then they split the proceeds. Blatant criminality
Yes. I've seen the series. Pathetic.
and thats why you dont go into that backwoods cousin marrying state, tn is a dump with the policies to match
Oklahoma amended its law in 2015 to allow judges to award attorney fees to people whose assets were found to be unjustly seized by law enforcement. Arizona has a similar provision in its comprehensive 2017 law.
Good for them both!
There just a bunch of Criminal’s with a Badge.
What's the difference between a criminal and a cop?
It's legal to resist when a criminal tries to take your money.
There is also a significant drop in the amount of asset forfeiture in places that do NOT allow the law enforcement to keep portions of the seizure... I'm sure that's just a coincidence though.
I had seen Steve's previous videos on this subject. So I was aware of the issue when I had to pick up $15,000 in cash from the coroner's office from a deceased relative. You can be sure I drove extra carefully to the nearest bank.
The Supreme court MUST look at this issue!
I'm sure they have. They think it's fine.
They have not seen a Civil Asset Forfiture case based on the 14th amendment (Due Process). Usually what happens is if there is a challenge a long those lines the money is returned before it gets to court. In the Tombs v. Indiana case the case evolved around excessive fines. The asset was valued at $40,000 and the fine was only $10,000. Clarence Thomas said he would like to see a case based on Due Process but one hasn't reached the SCOTUS yet. This was back around March 2019.
@@ajkendro3413 Civil is a 4th amendment taking.
@@billconley4239 You're right. I was thinking of another post for voting.
Steve, you mentioned Institute for Justice a couple of times in this vlog. Why not let people know they can help fight Civil Asset Forfeiture by donating to the people that fight it?
Can you sue for defamation if they call you a drug smuggler. You seized my money for being the fruit of drug smuggling, that is the same as calling me a drug smuggler.
You can sue for it but you'll lose
The “ War on drugs “ is an abysmal failure. BTW, it’s not Turkey Elbow, KY, it’s actually Rooster Run, KY😁
Still not as good as gobble cock or mianus
What size is their police department?
I thought it was Rooster Nuggets, KY.
It ranks right up there with Chicken Gristle Bend on the Brazos River.
Listen no one gives drugs the credit they deserve for winning the war 🤣
I live near Tampa, and this was the lead story a few nights ago. Thanks to your channel, I’ve gotten an extensive education on Civil Asset Forfeiture. Thank you for continuing to share this information with us. bTW, where is Turkey Elbow, KY? 🤣
Law Enforcement Officers at EVERY level should be utterly ashamed...
They owe a lot more to the Civilians then just an,,, 'OK, you can have your money back THIS time', attitude...
Our "heroes" in Blue have a habit of intruding in your life, for no good reason,
bringing hardship and suffering... being rewarded for it,,, and never enduring a negative consequence
IF they are "heroes in blue(like you say)" AND/OR intrude on your life.......... They "are not 'heroes in blue' in my book. "Zeros in blue" and that is being nice calling them zeros.
THAT WILL EVENTUALLY GET PEOPLE KILLED. SOMEbody with either too much, or nothing to lose, will explode and kill right there on site, one of these times !!!! That won't do THEM any good....but this has to be stopped !!!!
I’m glad you and John Oliver Are bringing light to this injustice
I liked John until I found him to be a corporate stooge.
Imagine being one of the goons that actually confiscates the money. How do they sleep at night?
Those people don't think like we do. They work for the government: great pay, great benefits, health care, vacation time, retirement provided for. They see "you" as "them". You're not part of their gang. We The People are a resource to be harvested.
It's just a job to them. In their mind set "You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette."
Plus they have to deal with society criminals, and forget how to treat honest people.
LAND of the FREE!!!!. I'm still waiting for the punch line.
I love your passion for civil asset forfeiture
Same. I first found him on the Indiana v Tibbs case. Was very fun to follow
I wonder if they will start waiting outside casinos looking for people carrying cash.
Few years back there was an elderly couple in a small town who ran the general store for decades. As was their practice for years, once a week they would go and deposit the weekly sales at the bank which usually ran in the $6k to $9k per week. The IRS came in and seized all the money in their bank accounts because they suspected "structuring" which is making a series of deposits under $10k to bypass the bank reporting laws. No charges were ever filed and as in this case, the federal government said, sue us if you want it back. A lot of the time the government agency, when they know there is no evidence will then try to negotiate to only giving you back part of it.
I remember getting a strange look from TSA in Tampa on my way to New York. He patted me down and asked what are the objects in my pockets. I told him money and he had me take it out, his eyes bugged out when he saw stacks of new $100 bills. He asked what was it for and I told him I was on my way to purchase a couple of machine guns, he stopped abruptly and I was on my way.....The return trip wasn't as smooth as I had to deal with the Port Authority Police at JFK airport.
You just knew the creation of a new government department was NOT to keep travelers safe.
I live in Tampa I remember hearing on the news about this case when it happened thank you for providing an update on the end of it
More than a century ago they were called “Highwaymen “ not federal officers. Oh, and the Margarita machine manufacturers would suffer if you changed the law and said they couldn’t keep the money.
Once again, you nailed it.
Happen to me in Dallas as custom and Border protection at the gate search my carry on for cash they kept asking me for my employment status,place of living and so many other
questions I just stood for my right and stated “I do not concentrate to a search without a warrant and I don’t answer questions “ Lucky me nothing to serious to report, 20 minutes later I was on my way.
What does "concentrate" to a search mean?
Amen. I agree. Lets end civil asset forfeiture!!
@05:35,... 😂 when you pointed and asked I told my self 348.348 Kilometers, because I saw this turning today I knew!
Robbed is the right word. Legal robbery.
More painful than losing the money is hearing what the law enforcement office did with it.
There are some wicked CAF cases out there. Cases that are just unbelievable
How does ANYONE have ANY property rights if the government can sue YOUR PROPERTY ITSELF???
@@ianbattles7290 its because the property rights are not what one may think they are. There is no such thing as being free and having rights. Your awarded a fallacy in life. Its perception manipulation.
I 100% agree with you on giving names. The names are irrelevant.
"Identifying" cash like that as proceeds from a drug sale is an equivalent of "I smelled marijuana." We've *gotta* end the "War on Drugs" people!
It is over drugs won every single battle
Another example, after major hurricanes cash is king. The difference is probably that whoever tried civil asset forfeiture at the time everyone is carrying cash will probably not make it back to the station.
Outstanding show. Thanks Steve!
It seems the TSA is used as the scout for the other agencies.
Good video; you snuck an “escheat” into it. Word power.
Steve is great keep going never stop.
This is my favorite Steve Lahto video so far.
That is insane they owe her damages
How has the scotus not ruled against this?!
We are out of here !!!!!! Good luck Steve ///// You are Great
Hopefully not only her money but lawyers cost.
You must be joking...it's America...Third-World home of the corrupt
I never noticed anything that would need to be edited out. Good job and good story,
5:34 60,668 miles on a 2012 Silverado. Had 58,838 miles on it when I bought it over 2 years ago.
Fair winds and following seas to all.
Politicians will side with authoritarianism than the individual liberties of the people.
Ain't this the truth.
We have ongoing evidence that shows your conclusion is true.
Politicians will side with whoever they think will allow them to keep their job. Sometimes that is the people (sadly not always, but in a democracy there's a better chance of it).
4:09
I thought the government could 'disrupt organized crime' by simply arresting, convicting, and imprisoning...
But I guess there's no money for them that way.
Grrr
Hundo, unfolded, on top of volume 1 of the OED in the first shelf of the left OED case. 621.
3rd 😎🎈🥂
Liked, and shared, because awareness is the first step to changing this. Not enough people know about this.
You are correct, Steve. This message needs to be sent to the lawmakers repeatedly, on a regular basis. They don't know if we don't tell them. You write the message, I'll volunteer to help by sending it (email) every week to whomever you suggest within reason. I'm 78 years old and can't email more than a million or two per week. OK? Ask for others to help and we'll see how far we can go toward righting this wrong. I live in Carrollton, Ga. Let me know. Thanks.
Should put those agents in jail for theft. Just like a two bit criminal would be. Who do they think they are, a politician?
There's a "Turkey Foot" recreation area in Kentucky. One of my favorite places in the world!!
Seizures with charges filed, and forfeiture on conviction? That makes legal sense, only if those assets are returned WITHOUT PENALTY upon acquittal.
"Gimme your car and the money in your wallet." is robbery, with or without a badge.
Gotta love the commitment!
@stevelehto you should do a compilation video of all your edits! That would probably be very entertaining!!
Ben is on the OED Vol I
1st 🏁🏆🎯
Even crazier is that asset forfeiture is supposed to take I'll gotten gains from criminals.
Meanwhile actual convicted criminals are routinely ordered by a judge as part of their sentence to pay restitution to victims but restitution is not enforced.
So, you have people and businesses owed money due to crime, and a pot of money collected via seizure when law enforcement suspects money might be unlawfully obtained. So instead of taking the unlawfully obtained money and giving it to the victims our government uses that money for a slush fund and tells victims to try collecting from someone in prison or doesn't have the means to reimburse their victims.
Almost makes me think the government is not even attempting to appear to serve the public good.
Thank You & Ms. Heather!
Posting on Facebook...
Want to end asset forfeiture fast? Require a court hearing within in two weeks and require the government to pay 20% interest from the minute the money is seized.
"The War on Drugs is a War on the People!" - C.A.
It was admitted to bring more of terrorism or a hate crime. As it was politically motivated to silence political opposition to Nixon, both hippies (anti-war) and blacks (Democrats). Heads should roll.
if some one sues and wins then lawyer fees and all of the other stuff should come out of that departments operating budget.
Indeed, watch for those. Because you're NOT going to hear them.
Steve this has happened to me once. The cop flat out told me if i did not look like a drug dealer then he would have never stoped me. He took 4,000 in cash and what i would have priced at 10,000 in old and rare coins from me. Told me if i did not like it to do something about it. At the time i was 25 what did i know. After a few months of fighting i got most of every thing back. There where a few coins missing. I was told they must have fell out sorry.
You have to be a law maker to write a law. Oh wait get the government to write a law that stops them from getting free money are you nuts. It will never happen.
You know how to word laws why dont you write one and take it to your state rep and see what you get. I dare you
East Jesus, Pennsylvania...
Bumfuck, Egypt... And now,
Turkey Elbow, Kentucky ('bout seventy miles Southwest of Frankfurt, I reckon). This show is so educational. Thanks.
Some states require that you file a protest within as little as 20 days. Some states require that a protesting citizen post a bond covering a portion of the assets seized.
Those legally recovering their own forfeited cash/assets should be able to recover legal costs. That too is a prerequisite for fixing this.
This should end. It's a tax on the common people.
As little as 1500 has been taken from people
Consistency
How many takes does it take for Steve to make his take on
the Governments take of taking assets
I agree with your assessment of making criminal asset forfeiture law and eliminate the current robery situation.
There’s one reason for not flying unless you absolutely have to. Criminals at every turn.
Criminal asset forfeiture will lead to a lot more innocent people facing false charges.
No charges
They just take your money
jquest43
He was referring to what Steve said about tying all asset forfeiture to a criminal activity and a conviction. If you tie the forfeiture to those things, there will be more incentive to falsely prosecute and convict people in an effort to keep the money.
Yea, so?
Charges still have to be proven through due process of law, and legally one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Will corrupt people try to work around that still? Of course, but it would be a lot harder. It would still be an improvement.
I guess as a Canadian I am lucky. We have asset forfeiture. But it is a criminal charge, Possession of assets obtained by crime. If your guilty they can take your stuff .
Might want to look again. Seems it’s just like the US . And BC being the worst of them.
how would they know you are guilty until after an investigation and trial? Sounds like you'd have to prove your innocence to get your money back
Sadly you still can have money taken at a airport. Had cops pull me off to question why i had 10k for a 3 month trip overseas . Legit held for hours that they didnt beleive me it cost 10k to live overseas for 3 months
Eleven states-California, Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont-require a criminal conviction (proof beyond a reasonable doubt) to engage in some or all forfeiture proceedings. California, Iowa and Ohio exclude property valued under a certain amount from the criminal conviction requirement. North Carolina, New Mexico and Nebraska have abolished civil forfeiture entirely.
Yay, North Carolina! Thanks for outlining this, by state.
Yes this needs to dissapear.and right now . call your local congressman asap!! Pepole. Only we the pepole can actually fix this as whole.
The cops suspect that money will be stolen, so they seize it and then say, "see?"
Keep your eyes peeled on those Road Pirates wearing badges on I-10 from Florida to Texas.
The law will not be changed until the supreme court
Abolishing civil asset forfeiture and ending qualified immunity would solve 90% of the policing problems in this country. Our state legislators are disingenuous and derelict for not addressing them long ago.
If this were a bill being debated in a legislative forum, I'd offer up one friendly amendment to switching wholly to criminal asset forfeiture requiring a conviction. The reason this cropped up so much in recent decades was the war on drugs; the notion that the criminals who owned the money were in jurisdictions we couldn't touch. We can still keep that aspect by adding a subsection that the forfeiture requires criminal charges, and giving a timeframe -- say, one year -- in which the owner has to appear in court to dispute the charges, or the forfeiture goes through even without a conviction.
Personally, I'd go a lot further: I want a US Constitutional amendment barring any "for profit" incentives in any aspect of our criminal justice system. No more profiteering from asset forfeiture, no more for-profit prisons, etc.
Let me offer a different angle to this and tell me how you would proceed: The police are watching someone they strongly believe to be a drug dealer. He has recently bought a $1M house, he has a $500,000 sports car, he buys expensive clothes, he pays for everything in cash, but he has no job, pays no taxes, and is never the one who gets busted with drugs on him. This is the situation that Civil Asset Forfeiture was created for. The police do not have enough legal proof for a conviction, beyond a reasonable doubt, or even probable cause for an arrest. This evidence as I described to you, does not even meet Reasonal Suspicion levels for a legal detainment. These were the types of assets that were confiscated in the 80's when these laws got created. Today... In Philadelphia, the average amount of a Civil Asset forfeiture case is $300... just a poor man's paycheck. How do you still allow the police to confiscate the big assets, without hurting the little guy?
@@TEverettReynolds I'm not sure I agree that this is what CAF was created for, but that's outside the policy discussion you're raising.
For your hypothetical, I'd be comfortable letting it fall to the police (and a probable referral to the IRS!) to pursue the suspect. The police can surveil and eventually get their evidence; the IRS can pursue the tax issues on undeclared income. The odds are very, very strong that they can catch our putative dealer at some point. And at the end of the day, if they can't find the evidence? I'd rather let a very few criminals go free than penalize lots of the innocent. That's a policy trade-off and greatly a matter of subjectivity, but it's the point on the spectrum where I'd design the law if I had the authority.
If they call you a drug dealer, can you sue them for libel?
Where I would go for roadtrips in the US when I was in my 20s, I was always asked how I would pay for the trip. Now I know why.
Good. Finally.
I get the concept where an ice cream truck has 500,000 hidden under the ice cream tub and doesn't explanation for it crossing the boarder.
How many people will be in prison for planted drugs just to keep their money.
They’d never pass a law that stops them from filling their pockets
Again, with all the talk about defunding the police I am shocked that civil asset forfeiture isn't included in that vein.
Steve, I want to know why this serious problem hasn't reached the Supreme Court???
Even with your "errata" you are still cool Steve... Carry on!
And the Interstate Commerce Act
,🎉good job