US Police And Prosecutors Fight To Retain Barbaric Right of “Civil Asset Forfeiture” STEALING AND ROBBING CITIZENS, YET ARRESTING SOMEONE FOR ROBBING A BANK...UH, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

by Mike Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg
Land of the Unfree – Police and Prosecutors Fight Aggressively to Retain Barbaric Right of “Civil Asset Forfeiture”

Efforts to limit seizures of money, homes and other property from people who may never be convicted of a crime are stalling out amid a wave of pressure from prosecutors and police.

Their effort, at least at the state level, appears to be working. At least a dozen states considered bills restricting or even abolishing forfeiture that isn’t accompanied by a conviction or gives law enforcement less control over forfeited proceeds. But most measures failed to pass.

     – From the Wall Street Journal article: Efforts to Curb Asset Seizures by Law Enforcement Hit Headwinds
The fact that civil asset forfeiture continues to exist across the American landscape despite outrage and considerable media attention, is as good an example as any as to how far fallen and uncivilized our so-called “society” has become. It also proves the point demonstrated in a Princeton University study that the U.S. is not a democracy, and the desires of the people have no impact on how the country is governed.
Civil asset forfeiture was first highlighted on these pages in the 2013 post, Why You Should Never, Ever Drive Through Tenaha, Texas, in which I explained:

In a nutshell, civil forfeiture is the practice of confiscating items from people, ranging from cash, cars, even homes based on no criminal conviction or charges, merely suspicion. This practice first became widespread for use against pirates, as a way to take possession of contraband goods despite the fact that the ships’ owners in many cases were located thousands of miles away and couldn’t easily be prosecuted. As is often the case, what starts out reasonable becomes a gigantic organized crime ring of criminality, particularly in a society where the rule of law no longer exists for the “elite,” yet anything goes when it comes to pillaging the average citizen.

One of the major reasons these programs have become so abused is that the police departments themselves are able to keep much of the confiscated money. So they actually have a perverse incentive to steal. As might be expected, a program that is often touted as being effective against going after major drug kingpins, actually targets the poor and disenfranchised more than anything else.

Civil asset forfeiture is state-sanctioned theft. There is no other way around it. The entire concept violates the spirit of the 4th, 5th and 6th amendments to the Constitution. In case you have any doubt:

The 4th Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The 5th Amendment: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

The 6th Amendment: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Civil asset forfeiture is a civil rights issue, and it should be seen as such by everyone. Just because it targets the entire population as opposed to a specific race, gender or sexual orientation doesn’t make it less important.
The problem with opposition in America today is that people aren’t seeing modern battle lines clearly. The greatest friction and abuse occurring in these United States today comes from the corporate-fascist state’s attack against average citizens. It doesn’t matter what color or gender you are. If you are weak, poor and vulnerable you are ripe for the picking. Until people see the battle lines clearly, it will be very difficult to achieve real change. Most people are divided and conquered along their superficial little tribal affiliations, and they completely miss the bigger picture to the peril of society. Which is why women will support Hillary just because she’s a woman, not caring in the least that she is a compromised, corrupt oligarch stooge.
In case you have any doubt about how little your opinion matters when it comes to the rights of police to rob you blind, read the following excerpts from the Wall Street Journal:

Efforts to limit seizures of money, homes and other property from people who may never be convicted of a crime are stalling out amid a wave of pressure from prosecutors and police.

Read that sentence over and over again until you get it. This is a free country?

Critics have taken aim at the confiscatory powers over concerns that authorities have too much latitude and often too strong a financial incentive when deciding whether to seize property suspected of being tied to criminal activity.

But after New Mexico passed a law this spring hailed by civil-liberties groups as a breakthrough in their effort to rein in states’ forfeiture programs, prosecutor and police associations stepped up their own lobbying campaign, warning legislators that passing such laws would deprive them of a potent crime-fighting tool and rip a hole in law-enforcement budgets.

Their effort, at least at the state level, appears to be working. At least a dozen states considered bills restricting or even abolishing forfeiture that isn’t accompanied by a conviction or gives law enforcement less control over forfeited proceeds. But most measures failed to pass.

“What happened in those states is a testament to the power of the law-enforcement lobby,” said Scott Bullock, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning advocacy group that has led a push for laws giving property owners more protections.

It seems the only people in America without a powerful lobby group are actual American citizens. See: Charting the American Oligarchy – How 0.01% of the Population Contributes 42% of All Campaign Cash

Prosecutors say forfeiture laws help ensure that drug traffickers, white-collar thieves and other wrongdoers can’t enjoy the fruits of their misdeeds and help curb crime by depriving criminals of the “tools” of their trade. Under federal law and in many states, a conviction isn’t required.

“White-collar thieves,” they say. Yet I haven’t seen a single bank executive’s assets confiscated. Rather, they received taxpayer bailout funds with which to pay themselves record bonuses after wrecking the global economy. Don’t forget:
The U.S. Department of Justice Handles Banker Criminals Like Juvenile Offenders…Literally

In Texas, lawmakers introduced more than a dozen bills addressing forfeiture during this year’s legislative session, which ended Monday. Some would either force the government to meet a higher burden of proof or subject forfeiture programs to more stringent financial disclosure rules and audits.

But only one bill, which law-enforcement officials didn’t object to, ultimately passed. It requires the state attorney general to publish an annual report of forfeited funds based on data submitted by local authorities. That information, at the moment, is only accessible through freedom-of-information requests.

This is what a corporate-statist oligarchy looks like.
Shannon Edmonds, a lobbyist for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, said local enforcement officers and prosecutors “educated their legislators about how asset forfeiture really works in Texas.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan last month vetoed a bill that would, among other things, prohibit the state from turning over seized property to the federal government unless the owner has been charged with a federal crime or gives consent.
Remember, the terrorists hate us for our freedom.

Prosecutors said the Tenaha episode was an isolated breakdown in the system. “Everybody knows there are bad eggs out there,” Karen Morris, who supervises the Harris County district attorney’s forfeiture unit, told Texas lawmakers at a hearing this spring. “But we don’t stop prosecuting people for murder just because some district attorneys have made mistakes.”

When police aren’t out there stealing your hard earned assets without a trial or charges, they can often be found pounding on citizens for kicks. I came across the following three headlines this morning alone as I was the scanning news.

Cop Exonerated After Being Caught on Video Brutally Beating A Tourist Who Asked For A Tampon
Kids in Police-Run Youth Camp Allegedly Beaten, Threatened By Cops
Florida Cop Charged With On-Duty Child Abuse; Suspended With Pay
This is not what freedom looks like.

Stop AB666 – Intersection cameras are really about survelliance and MONEY

What does AB666 Do?


>Eliminates citizens rights to a trial if they get a red light camera ticket

>Makes the vehicle owner responsible for the ticket even when someone else is driving

>Sets up kangaroo “administrative hearing” courts run by those running the ticketing program

>Requires that no evidence other than the ticket itself is needed to convict the accused

>Makes the ticket itself prima facie evidence which forces the accused to prove their innocence rather than the current system of “innocent until proven guilty”.

>Eliminates the right to face your accuser

>Eliminates the right to discovery

>Requires defendants to pay a fee if they want their case heard in court

(but without the full protections they have now)

>Expands the use of photo enforcement to other traffic violations

Even if you never get a red-light camera ticket, you are getting ripped off. If you drive on the streets of Los Angeles, you are less safe than you could be otherwise. The City of Los Angeles’ Photo Red-Light Program is a waste of taxpayer dollars and reduces safety for motorists and pedestrians. Here’s why:

The FACTS

1. Engineering countermeasures are a much more effective and economical solution to reduce red-light related collisions.



Most red light running is unintentional and caused by yellow light times that are too short or other engineering deficiencies.

Yellow times in Los Angeles are currently based on the posted speed limit but should be based on the actual speed of traffic approaching the intersection. Lengthening the yellow signal to the proper time will reduce violations and collisions as much as 50% or more.

Lengthening the all-red phase prevents accidents by making sure the intersection is clear before cross traffic is released. Some major intersections in Los Angeles have all-red times less than ½ second, and need to be closer to 2 – 2.5 seconds.

The most severe accidents are caused by impairment, distraction and fatigue which the red-light cameras can’t prevent.

If the city improved the signal timing and fixed any other engineering deficiencies, accidents and violations would drop and there would be no need for photo enforcement. They are spending your money and giving out tens of thousands of tickets for no reason.

2. The cameras have not improved safety and may have made us less safe.



Contrary to LAPD claims, any improvement in accident statistics is a result of State mandated longer yellow times being implemented when the cameras were installed or a decrease in traffic volume.

At some intersections, red light related accidents disappeared long before the cameras were put in, but the LAPD claims the cameras caused the reduction in accidents.

Red-light cameras can’t reduce the most serious accidents because those are caused by impairment, distraction and fatigue and occur well after the light has turned red. Red-light cameras, if they have any effect at all, only have the possibility of affecting the relatively few drivers who try to “beat the light” and misjudge by a few tenths of a second. In these situations, a sufficient all-red phase will prevent collisions from occurring.

Rear end accidents have increased substantially at some intersections. At Sherman Way and Louise Ave., rear end collisions increased by as much as 90% after the cameras were installed.

3. The City loses over $1 million in taxpayer dollars on the program every year.



This is likely to get worse as cited drivers begin to realize that if they ignore their tickets they won’t be reported to the DMV.

Also, appeals courts in many counties have ruled red light camera evidence to be inadmissible hearsay. It’s only a matter of time before the appeals court in Los Angeles rules similarly.

4. The program is being subsidized by giving out tens of thousands of citations for rolling right turns which rarely cause accidents.



At some intersection approaches rolling-right-turn tickets make up as much as 97% of the citations.

Rolling right turns pose little danger and don’t warrant spending millions of dollars to prevent this behavior. The average number of rolling-right-turn collisions each year was 45 out of an average of approximately 56,000 collisions annually in the City of L.A., which represents just 0.079% of all accidents. About three times as many accidents are caused each year by drivers opening their car door into passing traffic.

The majority of rolling-right-turn collisions resulted in minimal or no injuries, even when pedestrians or bicyclists were involved. There were no fatalities noted due to rolling-right-turns between 2002 and 2009.

The chance that a rolling-right-turn will result in a collision is 0.00029%. This means that a driver would have to make over 345,345 rolling-right-turns before they might be involved in an accident. Drivers who make slow, cautious rolling-right-turns will likely never cause an accident.

5. The cost of the red-light cameras goes far beyond the $1 million of taxpayer dollars wasted every year.



The millions of dollars spent in unnecessary fines and higher insurance rates are unavailable to be spent on local goods and services to grow our economy. If you own a business in L.A., your customers have less money to spend because of the red-light camera program.

Needless ticketing clogs our courts and makes our justice system less available for necessary cases. The Los Angeles Superior Court, where these cases are adjudicated, is facing a backlog of almost a full year.

Unreasonable and unfair enforcement of traffic laws engenders disrespect towards our public officials and the police. Citizens are much more likely to see law enforcement as an adversary rather than an ally which makes it more difficult for the LAPD to obtain the public’s help with more serious crimes and safety matters.

At a time when the City of Los Angeles is slashing essential government services and laying off workers, the Photo Red-Light Program is an inexcusable waste of city and law enforcement resources.

Redflex Traffic Systems, one of the companies behind AB666, is no stranger to controversy. Recently, a slew of their top U.S. Executives (Redflex is an Australian company) were forced to resign over a widening bribery scandal that came to light when a whistle-blower letter by a company executive was sent to the Chicago Tribune disclosing that Redflex officials bribed a top city administrator. Redflex was banned from doing business in Chicago and a deeper investigation has revealed that the Chicago corruption was likely not an isolated incident. We’ve yet to see the full extent of this company’s dirty dealings, as there’s currently a federal criminal probe into the matter, but the corruption scandal isn’t surprising considering the deceitful way these companies have conducted themselves in the past. Red light companies have routinely curried favor with politicians by making huge campaign contributions in order to get legislation passed that is favorable to their interests.


It seems Redflex’s $2000 contribution to Bob Wieckowski’s 2012 assembly campaign was enough to convince the Assembly Member to do their bidding. Apparently it doesn’t take much to sell out the people you were elected to represent. We’re still checking to see if Wieckowski took any Reflex money while he was on the City Council in Fremont where Redflex has the contract for the city’s red light camera program. We’ll keep you posted.

By the way, just consider for a moment how bad you must be to get kicked out of Chicago for corruption.

http://saferstreetsla.org/

http://stopab666.org/

As always, I highly recommend two great websites, HighwayRobbery.net and HelpIgotAticket.com for those ticketed in California.


http://libertyfight.com/2013/CA_introduces_ab666_to_fleece_motorists_and_steal_their_liberty.html