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Journal that he strong-armed Credit Suisse into agreeing to a $536
million forfeiture settlement by threatening to bring criminal charges
against the bank.
I thought it was illegal (or at least unethical) to threaten to bring
criminal charges in order to obtain a settlement in a civil case. I
guess he doesn't have to worry about getting disbarred since he is retiring.
Real 'Law & Order' DA Retires (PHOTO, VIDEO)
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Post Chronicle
But not before winning a huge *forfeiture* from Credit Suisse only
because he threatened criminal penalties. Morgenthau, 90, who retired
this week, *...*
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
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http://stopthedrugwar.org/
In Kerrville, Texas, the former 198th District DA was indicted
December 17<http://www.bccourier.com/
for
misusing asset forfeiture funds. Former DA Ron Sutton is charged with two
counts of misapplication of fiduciary property. The Sutton indictment comes
after District Judge Karl Prohl resigned in September after a defense
attorney complained to the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct that Prohl
was being biased in the DA's favor because he was benefitting from the DA's
largesse with seized funds. Prohl had received $14,500 in checks from Sutton
for training, equipment, and to attend a conference, as well as part of
another $21,000 check for conferences in Hawaii, and a $6,000 check to cover
per diem expenses during those same conferences. As presiding judge, Prohl
approved all expenditures from the asset forfeiture fund. Prohl agreed to
resign his judgeship "in lieu of disciplinary action" by the commission.
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U.S. 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals, December 17, 2009
US v. $500,000
in US Currency, No. 08-20579
In an asset forfeiture proceeding in which a company claiming to be the
rightful owner of the funds at issue objected and filed a claim
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 983, dismissal of the claim for lack of
standing is reversed where: 1) the pleadings alleged that claimant
owned the actual seized dollars; and 2) the evidence claimant attached
to its response to the government's motion to dismiss supported the
pleadings' allegations.Read more...
U.S. 7th Circuit
Court of Appeals, October 27, 2009
US v.
Venturella, No. 07-3754
District court's conviction of defendants for mail fraud and order to
pay a criminal forfeiture money judgment and restitution is affirmed
as: 1) forfeiture is not limited solely to the amounts alleged in the
count(s) of conviction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 981(a)(1)(C); 2)
defendants waived their rights to forfeiture calculations review on
appeal; and 3) imposing restitution and forfeiture for the same crime
is not an improper double payment. Read more...
U.S. 11th Circuit
Court of Appeals, October 26, 2009
US v. Velez, No.
09-10199
In the government's appeal from a district court's dismissal of a money
laundering charge against defendants, the order is affirmed where
monetary transactions made for the purpose of securing legal
representation are exempt from criminal penalties under 18 U.S.C.
section 1957(f)(1). Read more...
U.S. 7th Circuit
Court of Appeals, November 19, 2009 U.S. 8th Circuit
Court of Appeals, November 18, 2009 12/2/09 fed rules
amendments: As of today, the Criminal Procedure and Appellate Procedure Rules
have been changed so that there is no such thing as not counting
weekends and holidays. Only calendar days matter. See
Fed. R. Crim. P. 45(a)(1)(B) and Fed. R. App. P. 26(a)(1)(B). This change required
changing all the references to time limits of 11 days or less [which
previously did not count weekends and holidays]. So for the most
part all time limits of 10 days are now 14 days, e.g. for notices of
appeal. This could make a difference when previously you would
get an extra day when there was a holiday mixed within the 10
days. Also, the time to file post-verdict motions for acquittal
and new trial and post-judgment motions to correct clear error have
changed from 7 to 14 days. Time to respond to appellate motions
has changed from 8 to 10 days. Reply briefs must be filed within
7 rather than 3 days of oral argument. Fed. R. App. P. 26(c)
clarifies that the 3 days for mailing after service of a document
[which applies unless the document is hand-delivered] begins to run
only after the date you determine the response would have been due
absent the extra three days. Other changes to the criminal procedure rules: Rule 41 specifies
that a warrant may authorize the seizure of electronic media and that,
unless otherwise stated, that kind of warrant is assumed to allow for a
later review of the information in the media. The time for
executing the warrant does not restrict when later off-site reviews
must be conducted. The inventory may just refer to the "physical
storage media" that was seized, not the information found within it. Rule 32(G) requires the presentence report to specify whether the
government seeks forfeiture. Rule 32.2 has been amended with
respect to how criminal forfeiture proceedings should be
conducted and it states that notice of forfeiture in the indictment
should not be designated as a count and need not identify the property
or money amount subject to forfeiture.
U.S. 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals, December 17, 2009 U.S. 7th Circuit
Court of Appeals, October 27, 2009 U.S. 11th Circuit
Court of Appeals, October 26, 2009
U.S. 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals, August 25, 2009 In an appeal from a
dismissal of a petition asserting an interest in a
bank account the court had ordered forfeited as a result of the
government's plea agreement with one petitioner's nephew, the order is
reversed where a petitioner's alleged ill health is clearly relevant to
whether the petitioner is deliberately avoiding prosecution by
declining to enter or reenter the U.S., and such an argument is
properly asserted in response to the government's attempt to apply the
fugitive disentitlement statute. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit
Court of Appeals, August 24, 2009 In forfeiture
proceedings involving cash that was suspected to be
connected to drugs, district court's grant of defendant's motion to
suppress dog-sniff test evidence is reversed and remanded where: 1) the
police officers' suspicion that a briefcase contained drugs or money
associated with drugs was reasonable; 2) detention of the briefcase was
reasonable; and 3) officer's unlawful search of the briefcase fell
under under the inevitable discovery doctrine where the government
obtained an independent legal justification for conducting a search
which led to the discovery of the evidence and officers inevitably
would have sought the warrant and conducted a lawful search.Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals, August 26, 2009 In cases arising from
the federal investigation of the Bay Area Lab
Cooperative (Balco) and its alleged distribution of illegal steroids to
professional baseball athletes, orders quashing subpoenas seeking
information regarding drug tests performed on baseball players are
affirmed over the government's appeal where: 1) the government failed
to timely appeal one of the orders, which determined that the
government failed to segregate intermingled data, and thus the order
had preclusive effect on the other pending cases; and 2) Fed. R. Crim.
P. 41(g) was an appropriate means of obtaining the return of property
improperly seized by the government. Read more...
May 6, 2009 A federal class-action
lawsuit filed by David Guillory, a local attorney from Nacogdoches is
accusing the small town police officers and the district attorney of
Tenaha of illegally stopping and detaining black and Latino motorists
and offering them the impossible choice of being charged with a felony
crime, or turning over all of their money and valuables to the Tenaha
police department. The lawsuit contends the
Tenaha police and the district attorney “have developed an illegal
’stop and seize’ practice of targeting, stopping, detaining, searching,
and often seizing property from apparently nonwhite citizens and those
traveling with nonwhite citizens.” The class-action lawsuit
details the police shake down of hundreds of victims, having had the
misfortune of driving while black in Tenahan, from 2006 to 2008. The
original lawsuit was brought in 2008 and represented 10 victims of the
Tenaha Highway bandits, but attorney David Guillory says so many other
victims came forward, he expanded the original suit to a class-action
lawsuit. The Tenaha police
department has been getting away with its alleged highway banditry by
misusing the state’s asset-forfeiture law, which allows police to keep
drug money and other property used in the commission of a crime and add
the proceeds to their police budgets. But apparently, the small town
police officers of Tenaha forgot portions of the law requiring that a
crime must first be committed. Oh, and the part of the law that
requires police to return any seized property, if no criminal charges
are brought. George Bowers, mayor of
the town contends the law is properly
enforced, but the victims say otherwise. Consider the story of a
Tennessee man, named Roderick Daniels who says he was pulled over on
Highway 59, right outside of Tenaha on a beautiful fall day in 2007,
for driving 2 miles over the speed limit. After a search, police
discovered he was carrying $8,500 in cash that he intended to use to
purchase a used car in East Texas. Daniels was also sporting an
expensive looking ring that the police were apparently coveting, so
they hauled Daniels to the jailhouse and threatened him with a felony
charge of money laundering, unless he turned signed forfeiture papers
handing over his property and his cash to the police department. Another case detailed in
the lawsuit, describes the Tenaha police pulling over a multiracial
couple, Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson along with their two
children, for driving “too close” to the white line and hauled them off
to jail after finding the couple were also in possession of nearly
$6,000, they had withdrawn to purchase a used car. Locked up in a jail
cell, the police and the District Attorney, Lynda Russell threatened to
charge them with a crime and take their children away and place them in
child protective services, unless they signed a paper turning over
their cash and property to the police department. The document signed by
Russell, illustrates the Tenaha shakedown in stark terms stating: that
in exchange for forfeiting the cash, “no criminal charges shall be
filed … and our children shall not be turned over” to the state’s child
protective services agency. Attorney David Guillory,
estimates authorities in Tenaha seized nearly $3 million between 2006
and 2008, and in 150 of those cases, virtually all of the seizures were
improper and involved people of color. It seems the Tenaha police, like
any predator, honed in on vulnerable out-of-towners, who had money or
valuables the police wanted for themselves and stripped them clean. Money and property
legitimately seized under Texas’ forfeiture law, requires the money to
be used for lawenforcement Since the lawsuit was
filed, it has brought much needed attention to the practices of Texas
law enforcement officers, improperly using the state’s forfeiture laws.
Texas State Senator John Whitmire calls the
actions
of the Tenaha police department thievery, and plans to
introduce new legislation to plug up the loopholes in the forfeiture
law, calling for a new law requiring police departments to hold a court
hearing before someone’s property is seized. Senator Whitmire told
CNN, “To have law enforcement and the district attorney essentially be
crooks, in my judgment, should infuriate and does infuriate everyone,”
Whitmire said. The lawsuit is pending
in U.S. District Court and was filed not only against the Tenaha police
department and the District Attorney, but also the town’s mayor, George
Bowers. Meanwhile, the alleged
highway banditry of Tenaha law officials is on hold, and once again,
motorists can safely pass through the sleepy town unmolested, with
boarded up storefronts and a City Hall building with broken windows,
and breathe a sigh of relief once they cross over the border to the
gambling casinos of Louisina, with their cash and valuables intact.
sender-time
Sent at 10:19 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
3:23 PM. ✆
to
Judy Osburn
<>,
date
Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 10:19 AM
subject
FEAR stuff
mailed-by
gmail.com
signed-by
gmail.com
US v. Miller,
No. 09-2256
District court's order to destroy 34 firearms and for defendant to
collect just compensation from the government arising from his
conviction of aiding and abetting the possession of firearms by a
felon, is vacated and remanded where: 1) because the government did not
commence a timely forfeiture proceeding, defendant's property interest
in the firearms continues even though his possessory interest has been
curtailed; and 2) as such, if the government does not want to sell the
firearms for his account, then it must offer defendant some other
lawful option, such as having a trustee sell or hold the guns, or
giving them to someone who can be relied on to treat them as his own. Read more...
US v. Moser, No.
08-2909
In a petition for attorney's fees pursuant to the Civil Asset
Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA) after petitioner prevailed in an asset
forfeiture proceeding pursuant to 21 U.S.C. section 853(n), denial of
the petition is affirmed where the arguments for and against permitting
a prevailing section 853(n) petitioner to receive attorneys' fees from
the government were too closely balanced to allow the court of appeals
to conclude that Congress's waiver of sovereign immunity clearly and
unequivocally applied in this situation. Read more...
sender-time
Sent at 10:25 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
3:25 PM. ✆
to
Judy Osburn
<>
cc
jodynealpost@gmail.com
date
Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 10:25 AM
subject
Fear
mailed-by
gmail.com
signed-by
gmail.com
US v. $500,000
in US Currency, No. 08-20579
In an asset forfeiture proceeding in which a company claiming to be the
rightful owner of the funds at issue objected and filed a claim
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 983, dismissal of the claim for lack of
standing is reversed where: 1) the pleadings alleged that claimant
owned the actual seized dollars; and 2) the evidence claimant attached
to its response to the government's motion to dismiss supported the
pleadings' allegations.Read more...
US v.
Venturella, No. 07-3754
District court's conviction of defendants for mail fraud and order to
pay a criminal forfeiture money judgment and restitution is affirmed
as: 1) forfeiture is not limited solely to the amounts alleged in the
count(s) of conviction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 981(a)(1)(C); 2)
defendants waived their rights to forfeiture calculations review on
appeal; and 3) imposing restitution and forfeiture for the same crime
is not an improper double payment. Read more...
US v. Velez, No.
09-10199
In the government's appeal from a district court's dismissal of a money
laundering charge against defendants, the order is affirmed where
monetary transactions made for the purpose of securing legal
representation are exempt from criminal penalties under 18 U.S.C.
section 1957(f)(1). Read more...
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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date
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 10:30 AM
subject
FEAR: MI: Michigan's asset forfeiture scandal
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Michigan Messenger
By Ed Brayton 11/13/09 7:32 AM The Detroit News has a very important
article about the use of asset *forfeiture* laws by law enforcement as a
means of raising *...*
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
November 12. 2009
*Police property seizures ensnare even the innocent*
<http://www.detnews.com/
Money raised by Metro Detroit agencies increases 50% in five years
George Hunter and Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News
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.
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
sender-time
Sent at 9:33 AM (GMT-08:00). Current time there:
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to
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date
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 9:33 AM
subject
FEAR: MN: Motorized Recliner Chair Forfeited for
DWI listed on E-Bay
in clunkers of questionable value, many worth less at auction than the
cost of forfeiting them.
But this story surely sets a new record for how low they can go.
It
seems the owner of this vehicle, who had already lost his license for
past DWIs, motorized his recliner chair and was driving it in a parking
lot in a drunken state (how else could you drive such a vehicle?) when
he crashed into a car and was apprehended.
The car is up for auction now on E-Bay. It would make a good art
car
for next year's Burning Man.
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
CNBC
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
'DWI Chair' Up for Auction on ebay After La-Z-Boy Protests
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
CNBC
Police seized the vehicle under Minnesota's "*forfeiture* law," which is
now facing increased scrutiny. Apparently, he'd already had his driver's
license *...*
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
sender-time
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2:32 PM. ✆
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to
fear-list@mapinc.org
date
Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 2:06 PM
subject
FEAR: AL: "We led your husband to suicide, now
we're coming for your property"
Property
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Sovereign Society
It's time for me to once again rail against the inhumane practice of
civil *forfeiture*. This time, the victim is a sympathetic one, and she
may ultimately *...*
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
rom
Brenda
Grantland <>
sender-time
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to
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date
Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 2:03 PM
subject
FEAR: MN: Legislature holds hearings on state
forfeiture law
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Pioneer Press
By Mara H. Gottfried After hearing hours of testimony Thursday about how
state *forfeiture* laws are supposed to work, many legislators had
vanished by the *...*
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
Minn. Panels To Look At Criminal *Forfeiture* Laws
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
WCCO
Panels To Look At Criminal *Forfeiture* Laws A probe found that officers
with the Metro Gang Strike Force took televisions and jewelry and seized
cash from *...*
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
sender-time
Sent at 8:06 PM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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to
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date
Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 8:06 PM
subject
FEAR: S.Ct. - Alvarez case on right to prompt
post-seizure hearing
prompt post seizure hearing, yet several years later when the case
finally gets to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court says it's moot
because you finally got a hearing somewhere along the way.
Justices hint seizure case may be moot
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Wisconsin Law Journal
Once *forfeiture* proceedings are initiated, owners have the right to
assert an "innocent owner" defense and show that they had no active or
constructive *...*
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
date
Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 8:38 PM
subject
FULL ARTICLE: FEAR: S.Ct. - Alvarez case on right
to prompt post-seizure hearing
mailed-by
gmail.com
by Kimberly Atkins
Lawyers USA
October 16, 2009
Washington — Those waiting for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on whether
government seizures of property related to criminal activity
without
a probable cause hearing is unconstitutional may be disappointed.
During oral arguments in Alvarez v. Smith on Wednesday, the justices
hinted strongly that the case may now be moot and that they may
dismiss the appeal as improvidently granted.
In the case, a group of individuals sought to bring a class action
after their cars and other property were seized by Chicago police
under a law that allows law enforcement officials to confiscate
property associated with drug activity. While no member of the
proposed class was charged with a crime, their property was held for
several months to a year without a hearing being conducted and without
an opportunity to retrieve it.
Once forfeiture proceedings are initiated, owners have the right to
assert an “innocent owner” defense and show that they had no active or
constructive knowledge that the property was associated with drug
activity.
The district court, applying precedent related to speedy trials,
dismissed the suit.
But the 7th Circuit reversed, applying a due process standard instead
and finding that the seizure process required “some mechanism to test
the validity of the retention of the property.”
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
No ‘live claim?’
At oral argument, the justices took note that all the plaintiffs had
either resolved their individual cases through settlement or forfeited
their claims. Also, the justices noted that the class was never
certified, leaving, as Justice Antonin Scalia put it, “nobody before
this Court with a live claim.”
Some justices hinted strongly that perhaps the case should stop right
there.
“Has there ever been a case in which this Court has considered the
merits of a dispute where the individual claims of the named
plaintiffs expired before we heard argument and a class had not yet
been certified?” asked Justice Samuel Alito, Jr.
Paul Castiglione, as assistant Illinois State’s Attorney, pointed out
that some of the plaintiffs asked for damages and another class
certification after the case was reversed and remanded by the 7th
Circuit. But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg still wasn’t convinced there
was anything for the High Court to do.
“So as the case comes to us, we have a district court final judgment
dismissing the case,” Ginsburg said.
Setting aside the mootness issue momentarily, Ginsburg questioned just
what means were available to someone whose property is seized.
“In your brief you suggested that there is a means that these
plaintiffs could get back their property pending the ultimate
forfeiture proceeding,” Ginsburg said, referring to a hearing the
petitioner said was available for people seeking to get their property
back. “So I don’t understand their argument that there’s one and only
one procedure, the forfeiture procedure, when on the other hand you
are telling us that there is a means.”
Castiglione said individuals can request a civil forfeiture hearing
where they can ask the government to either “file an action or release
the property. I think it operates much the same way that the speedy
trial factors would operate in a criminal case.”
‘Decide the merits’
Thomas Peters, a Chicago practitioner representing the plaintiffs,
jumped right into the mootness question.
“This case is not moot,” Peters said. “It is not moot because at the
time that the plaintiffs filed the case they clearly had standing.
They immediately moved for class certification [and the] class
certification was denied [only because] the merits of the case were
simultaneously denied.”
Peters said since the issue is ripe for repetition, the Court should
decide it on the merits. But Scalia wasn’t so sure.
“If you are relying on [the] ‘capable of repetition yet evading
review’ [standard], that tests whether indeed these people stand a
chance of having the same thing happen,” he said.
“I respectfully beg to differ, Your Honor,” Peters said. “There is
right now today a class of people in the city of Chicago who have
their cars impounded. Their claims are repeating daily.”
“You are assuming that the class is a valid class,” Scalia said. “It
hasn’t been certified.”
Justice John Paul Stevens wondered what the next step is.
“The mootness decision won’t really decide anything,” Stevens said.
“You’ll say you [have] to file another lawsuit and start over again.
But if you just say we ought to dismiss this writ as improvidently
granted, and let the record be developed and the case go by and we
could decide the issues.”
“That, it seems to me, is a very wise choice of action,” Peters said.
A decision from the court is expected later this term.
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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to
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date
Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 8:03 PM
subject
FEAR: Pharmacia & Upjohn to pay $105 million
forfeiture
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
MarketWatch
Pharmacia & Upjohn must pay a criminal fine of just under $1.2
billion
and a criminal *forfeiture* of $105 million for misbranding the pain
medication Bextra. *...*
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/27o__
******************************
from
Judy
Osburn <>
sender-time
Sent at 10:39 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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<fear-list@mapinc.org>
date
Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 10:39 AM
subject
FEAR: Counerpunch: The Cash Cops of Tenaha by Greg
Moses
Bizarre License on Highway 59
The Cash Cops of Tenaha
By GREG MOSES
It was Friday of the last day of August, 2007 when Arkansas resident
James Morrow attempted to mind his own business while driving
peaceably through Tenaha, a small East Texas town in Shelby County
south of Shreveport and Longview. According to a federal lawsuit
(Morrow v Tenaha) filed by the American Civil Liberties Union there
was “no legal justification” for what happened next. Morrow was
stopped by Tenaha Deputy Marshall Barry Washington and asked to step
out of his car. Deputy Washington then searched Morrow's car.
Then Deputy Washington was joined at the scene by Shelby County
Precinct Four Constable Randy Whatley who searched the car with a dog.
Following two searches of his car, Morrow was asked by Deputy
Washington if he had any money, and he said yes, he was carrying about
$3,900 in his wallet. Deputy Washington promptly seized $3,969
from
Morrow, confiscated his two cell phones, and arrested him for “money
laundering.”
“Washington had no reason to believe Plaintiff Morrow was guilty
of
money laundering,” says the federal lawsuit. “Defendants
Washington
and Russell told Plaintiff Morrow they would hold him
prisoner and
prosecute him for money laundering unless he would agree to
forfeit
the $3969. Under this duress and these threats, Defendants
Washington
and Russell coerced Plaintiff Morrow to execute documents
memorializing the forfeiture, and released him, and warned him to not
hire a lawyer or try to get his money back.” The “money
laundering”
charges were subsequently dismissed.
Morrow is a black African American and the lead plaintiff in a case
involving eight motorists who claim they were stopped and stripped of
their cash for no other provocation than driving or riding through
Tenaha while black. ...
Read the rest of this excellent article at:
http://www.counterpunch.org/
******************************
from
Judy
Osburn <>
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<fear-list@mapinc.org>
date
Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 9:12 AM
subject
FEAR: Press Release: ACLU Opposes Texas D.A.'s
Attempt To Use Seized Assets To Pay For Her Own Legal Defense
http://www.commondreams.org/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2009
11:43 AM
CONTACT: ACLU
Will Matthews, ACLU National, (212) 549-2582 or 2666; media@aclu.org
Dotty Griffith, ACLU of Texas, (512) 478-7300, ext. 106; dgriffith@aclutx.org
ACLU Opposes Texas D.A.'s Attempt To Use Seized Assets To Pay For Her
Own Legal Defense
Top County Law Enforcement Official Accused Of Illegally Seizing Cash
From Minority Motorists
AUSTIN, TX - October 2 - The American Civil Liberties Union and the
ACLU of Texas today filed a brief with the Texas Attorney General's
office opposing a request by Shelby County District Attorney Lynda K.
Russell to use money she allegedly seized illegally from motorists to
defend herself against a federal lawsuit accusing her of stripping
drivers – almost all of them black – of their property without ever
charging them with a crime. The brief also argues that either the
county or state, both of which have refused to defend Russell, must be
accountable for Russell's actions and cannot decline to represent her.
Russell is accused of participating in a scheme in which authorities
pull over mostly African-American motorists driving along a state
highway in Tenaha, TX without cause, ask if they are carrying cash
and, if so, order them to sign over the cash to the town or face
felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes.
"The government must account for the misconduct of officials who
operate in its name," said Vanita Gupta, staff attorney with the ACLU
Racial Justice Program, who represented African-American residents of
Tulia, TX in high-profile litigation challenging their wrongful
convictions on drug charges. "The state of Texas has seen egregious
examples of racial profiling that result from poor oversight of
criminal justice officials."
Officials in Tenaha have claimed that the seizures are a legitimate
use of the state's asset forfeiture laws as part of a battle against
drug trafficking. But according to the lawsuit, more than 140 people,
almost all of whom were African-American, turned over their assets to
police without cause and under duress between June 2006 and June 2008.
If a federal judge agrees that assets were in fact illegally seized,
they should be returned to their rightful owners, whose civil rights
were violated.
"It would be completely inappropriate for the district attorney to use
assets which are the very subject of litigation charging her with
participating in allegedly illegal activity to defend herself against
these charges," said Lisa Graybill, Legal Director at the ACLU of
Texas. "Texas has a long history of having its law enforcement
officials unconstitutionally target racial minorities in the flawed
and failed war on drugs and it is of paramount importance that those
officials be held accountable."
Shelby County Commissioners have also refused to pay for Russell's
defense, so Russell is now asking the state Attorney General's office
to clarify whether the forfeited funds can be used to pay for her
defense, a move the ACLU opposes because there is already too much
discretion on how forfeited funds can be used.
"The misuse of asset forfeiture laws by local officials is exacerbated
by inadequate oversight," said Matt Simpson, Policy Strategist for the
ACLU of Texas. "The legislature must squarely address these reported
civil rights violations via reform of forfeiture laws that strengthen
protection against unconstitutional conduct and racial profiling."
Reports of racial profiling and abuse connected to asset forfeiture
are not unique to Tenaha, but are emerging state-wide. Earlier this
year, State Sen. John Whitmire of Houston sought to change forfeiture
laws by introducing legislation that would have reformed Texas asset
forfeiture law. The legislation was stalled by procedural matters in
the Texas legislature, leaving intact a lack of accountability in the
seizing and use of assets seized under current asset forfeiture law.
ACLU lawyers involved in drafting today's brief include Gupta,
Graybill and Chloe Cockburn of the ACLU Racial Justice Program.
A copy of the ACLU brief is available online at:
www.aclu.org/racialjustice/
A copy of the civil lawsuit naming Russell is available online at:
www.aclu.org/racialjustice/
Additional information about the ACLU Racial Justice Program is
available online at:
www.aclu.org/racialjustice
Additional information about the ACLU of Texas is available online at:
www.aclutx.org
The ACLU conserves America's original civic values working in courts,
legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual
rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the United States
by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
******************************
from
Judy
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date
Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 9:06 AM
subject
FEAR: ACLU Opposes Texas D.A.'s Attempt To Use
Seized Assets To Pay For Her Own Legal Defense
ACLU Opposes Texas D.A.'s Attempt To Use Seized Assets To Pay For Her
Own Legal Defense
Top County Law Enforcement Official Accused Of Illegally Seizing Cash
From Minority Motorists
AUSTIN, TX - October 2 - The American Civil Liberties Union and the
ACLU of Texas today filed a brief with the Texas Attorney General's
office opposing a request by Shelby County District Attorney Lynda K.
Russell to use money she allegedly seized illegally from motorists to
defend herself against a federal lawsuit accusing her of stripping
drivers – almost all of them black – of their property without ever
charging them with a crime. The brief also argues that either the
county or state, both of which have refused to defend Russell, must be
accountable for Russell's actions and cannot decline to represent her.
Russell is accused of participating in a scheme in which authorities
pull over mostly African-American motorists driving along a state
highway in Tenaha, TX without cause, ask if they are carrying cash
and, if so, order them to sign over the cash to the town or face
felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes.
continued at:
http://www.commondreams.org/
******************************
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date
Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 9:40 AM
subject
FEAR: Fwd: Whatever happened to "presumed
innocent?"
From: Downsizer Dispatch <downsizer-dispatch@
Date: Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 7:35 AM
Subject: Whatever happened to "presumed innocent?
D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h
|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*
Quote of the Day: "While few would argue that criminals ought to be
able to keep the proceeds of their crimes, civil forfeiture allows the
government to seize and keep property without actually having to prove
a crime was committed in the first place. . . . Proceeds from civil
forfeiture at the state and local level usually go back to the police
departments and prosecutors' offices, giving them a clear and
unmistakable incentive to seize as much property as often as
possible." - Radley Balko <http://reason.com/news/show/
Subject: Whatever happened to "presumed innocent?"
The government wants to seize the home of a widowed cancer survivor.
She hasn't been charged with any crime, but her now-dead husband once
grew marijuana on their property. He used it to ease his chronic pain.
Under federal civil asset forfeiture law, that might be enough for the
government to take this woman's home.
<
http://www2.oanow.com/oan/
>
Such outrages are nothing new in the War on Drugs, but we're seeing
more abuses as criminal law becomes increasingly federalized. For
instance, federal agents are now exploiting the 2006 Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act to seize bank accounts and computers.
<
http://www.gambling911.com/
>
The leader of a new Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering task force
admits that unlike criminal cases where the suspect is presumed
innocent until proved guilty, in civil asset forfeiture cases . . .
<http://www.recentpoker.com/
* if you lose property to an asset forfeiture seizure you must prove
your innocence in order to get it back
* you have no 5th amendment protections -- even your silence can be
used against you
Civil asset forfeiture is also alive and well at the local level,
where police steal money from citizens in order to pay for new
equipment. <http://www.wreg.com/sns-ap-
Under Illinois law, the state can withhold cash, cars, or other
property for six months without even a preliminary hearing! Under the
law, three innocent people had to wait over a year to get their cars
back. They, along with three innocent people who had money stolen from
them, have argued the Constitutionality of the Illinois law.
The "good" news is that this law will be argued in the Supreme Court
this month in Alvarez v. Smith.
The bad news is that the most positive outcome is likely to be only a
reduction of the time you must wait before a preliminary hearing. The
Court isn't expected to strike down the law, even though civil asset
forfeiture proceedings clearly violate the 14th Amendment provision
that no state "can deprive any person of . . . property, without due
process of law." <http://reason.com/news/show/
Congress can do what the Court will not. Tell your representatives to
abolish Civil Asset Forfeiture using our Educate the Powerful System.
<https://secure.downsizedc.
Use your personal comments to mention the example of the widow who
may lose her home because her now dead husband grew marijuana that he
used to ease his pain from cancer.
You can send your message here.
<https://secure.downsizedc.
And don't forget to share this message with your friends:
http://www.downsizedc.org/
Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.
James Wilson
Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org
|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*
D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
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CONTRIBUTE in support of the "Educate the Powerful System" at
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IF you have difficulties or inquiries, simply hit reply to this message.
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Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
------------------------------
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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Sent at 11:21 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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date
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 11:21 AM
subject
FEAR: WA: State Supreme Court adopts actual
knowledge test for innocent ownership
known" standard for the innocent owner defense.
It all comes down to semantics
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
The Olympian
The state Supreme Court has issued a common sense 5-4 decision regarding
the forfeiture of cars, houses and other property used in illegal drug
dealing. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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date
Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 6:28 PM
subject
FEAR: U.S. Marshal Service
a new statistic:
"The Marshals Service asset forfeiture
<http://www.usmarshals.gov/
handles items such as boats, jewelry and cars
<http://www.usmarshals.gov/
in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2008, according to the agency."
The Marshal Service only disposes of assets forfeited in cases brought
by Justice Department agencies -- basically, the DEA and FBI -- so
that's only part of the federal forfeiture revenue generated last year.
Treasury Department forfeitures -- including IRS, INS and Customs
forfeiture cases -- are not included in that $1.32 billion figure.
Madoff's Belgian Shoes Stashed as US Markets Home
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Bloomberg
They also assist prosecutors in making decisions about property targeted
for forfeiture. "We have the crack house to the penthouse," Schowalter
says. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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Sent at 6:05 PM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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to
fear-list@mapinc.org
date
Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 6:05 PM
subject
FEAR: U.S. Supreme Court: Alvarez v. Smith pending
review
The Supreme Court reviews Illinois' awful asset forfeiture
law.
Radley Balko <http://reason.com/staff/show/
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Reason Online
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
New at Reason: Radley Balko on the Supreme Court Forfeiture Case ...
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Reason Online
Smith, a challenge to Illinois' particularly brutal asset forfeiture
law. The law allows the police to keep property seized in warrantless
searches for up ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Judy
Osburn <>
sender-time
Sent at 11:19 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
3:49 PM. ✆
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<fear-list@mapinc.org>
date
Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:19 AM
subject
FEAR: Athens, Georgia: "Man wins back suspected
drug money in rare fight."
Online Athens:
...And most people who lose property under those drug asset
forfeiture
laws don't bother fighting back because the odds are stacked against
them, attorneys say ...
http://www.google.com/url?sa=
..[snip] Prosecutors file in civil court to keep seized drug money and
property even before the criminal cases go forward.
"That puts defendants at a distinct disadvantage because most times
they are unable to testify in the civil case because you don't want to
put your client on the witness stand before trial on the criminal
case," [defense attorney ]Tolley said. ...[snip]
THE SHORTER URL BELOW ALSO LINKS TO THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, including my
comment updating the law for the past nine years on the Fifth
Amendment issue above. (Unfortunatley, I inadvertently posted it
before the Online Athens comment window allowed me a chance to proof
read my comment and paraphrase my excerpt from one of Brenda's briefs
in FEAR's Brief Bank II, indexed by issue under "Stay pending
outcome
of criminal case.")
http://www.onlineathens.com/
I can't emphasis enough how often a subscription to FEAR's brief bank
proves its value as a quick efficient resource for writing letters to
editors or posting a commenting on news articles, as well as briefing
legal issues.
--Judy
******************************
date
Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 8:04 PM
subject
Fear list cases
mailed-by
gmail.com
signed-by
gmail.com
from
Judy
Osburn <>
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<fear-list@mapinc.org>
date
Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 10:12 AM
subject
FEAR: Fwd: New Research by Stefan D Cassella
Date: Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 7:30 A
Subject: New Research by Stefan D Cassella
To:
Link: http://works.bepress.com/
Please have a look!
Thanks,
Stefan D Cassella
******************************
Create your own SelectedWorks site courtesy of bepress at
"Get more readership."
If you do not wish to receive these notifications, please click the
link below:
http://works.bepress.com/cgi/
------------------------------
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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date
Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 11:31 AM
subject
FEAR: TN: Attorney General condemns illegal
forfeiture plea agreement practice
<http://www.claiborneprogress.
Claiborne Progress - New Tazewell,TN,USA
The opinion refers to many plea agreements where a defendant accused of
a crime agrees to pay a "forfeiture" or money to the "Economic Crime
Fund" in return ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Judy
Osburn <>
sender-time
Sent at 9:32 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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<fear-list@mapinc.org>
date
Sat, May 30, 2009 at 9:32 AM
subject
FEAR: 11th Cir.: U.S. v. Hoffman-Vaile --
forfeiture money judgment calculation
*
*Money Judgment.*
Dr. Hoffman-Vaile argues that the district court erred when it
calculated
the forfeiture amount because it included the losses to private
insurance
companies and patients. “The court, in imposing sentence on a person
convicted of a
Federal health care offense, shall order the person to forfeit
property, real or
personal, that constitutes or is derived, directly or indirectly, from
gross proceeds
traceable to the commission of the offense.” 18 U.S.C. §
982(a)(7). Dr. Hoffman-Vaile argues
that she “can only be ordered to repay proceeds that resulted from
Medicare
20
fraud[,]” and “[a]ny amounts that she received from private insurance
companies or other payors did not result from Medicare fraud.” Because
she has been
ordered to pay restitution to the other victims, she argues that she
should not be
required to forfeit that amount to the government as well. This
argument fails.
The amounts that Dr. Hoffman-Vaile received from private insurance
companies and patients are “gross proceeds traceable to the commission
of”
her fraud because, but for her Medicare fraud, she would not have been
entitled
to collect these sums from the companies and patients. See id. We are
not
persuaded by Dr. Hoffman-Vaile’s argument that her forfeiture amount
should be reduced
because she has paid restitution to the other victims. Although “this
might
appear to be a ‘double dip,’ restitution and forfeiture serve different
goals[.]”
United States v. Leahy, 464 F.3d 773, 793 n.8 (7th Cir. 2006). “[T]he
focus of
restitution
is on the victim, [but] forfeiture focuses on the defendant.” United
States
v. Browne, 505 F.3d 1229, 1281 (11th Cir. 2007). “In addition to
forcing the
disgorgement of dishonest profits, therefore, forfeiture is also a
punitive
action against the defendant.” Id. The district court did not err when
it included
in the forfeiture amount the sums paid by Dr. Hoffman-Vaile’s other
victims, the
private insurance companies and her patients. Although the district
court used the
correct methodology, it miscalculated the amount of the forfeiture
money judgment,
as the
21
government concedes. We vacate the judgment of forfeiture to allow the
district court to correct the forfeiture amount from $705,161.87 to
$695,742.96.
*IV. CONCLUSION*
We *AFFIRM *Dr. Hoffman-Vaile’s convictions and sentences, except that
we *VACATE *the forfeiture money judgment and *REMAND *for further
proceedings consistent with this opinion.
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 07-12629
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 05-00307-CR-T-24-MSS
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
MARSHA LYNN HOFFMAN-VAILE,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________
(May 27, 2009)
Before BLACK,
22
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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date
Fri, May 29, 2009 at 10:44 AM
subject
FEAR: CANADA: Today the Supreme Court overturned
the forfeiture
Today the Canadian Supreme Court rejected global sentencing that treats
property owners differently from those who grow pot in rented property.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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Sent at 10:30 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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date
Fri, May 29, 2009 at 10:30 AM
subject
FEAR: SOUTH AFRICA: Supreme Ct. of Appeal protects
community property interests of innocent spouse
<http://www.businessday.co.za/
Business Day - Johannesburg,South Africa
The National Prosecuting Authority's unit was commenting on Tuesday's
Supreme Court of Appeal judgment, which ordered the forfeiture of a farm
owned by a ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/80_a_
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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Sent at 10:27 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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date
Fri, May 29, 2009 at 10:27 AM
subject
FEAR: CANADA: Supreme Court to rule on
proportionality of home forfeitures
<http://www.google.com/
The Canadian Press - OTTAWA
Lower courts have issued conflicting rulings on when home forfeiture is
appropriate. Craig, now 57, was ordered to turn over her small house
valued at more ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Judy
Osburn <openi420@gmail.com>
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Sent at 4:37 PM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
4:55 PM. ✆
to
Judy Osburn
<>
date
Wed, May 27, 2009 at 4:37 PM
subject
FULL ARTICLE: FEAR: TX: Tehana class action
lawsuit describes shakedown tactics
mailed-by
gmail.com
Small
Town
Texas Cops Accused of Highway Robbery
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
ChattahBox - Boston,MA,USA
The Tenaha police department has been getting away with its alleged
highway banditry by misusing the state's asset-forfeiture law, which
allows police to ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/10_
******************************
Small
Town
Texas Cops Accused of Highway Robbery
(ChattahBox)—Something is amiss in the
tiny backwater town of Tenaha, Texas, bordering Louisiana with barely
1,000 residents, encompassing an area of just 4 square miles that
motorists passing through on U.S. highway 84, can miss in the blink of
an eye, and many wished they had. Because, you see, there are a gang of
highway robbers and modern-day pirates loose on the dusty roads of
Tenaha, stopping mostly black and Latino, out of town motorists and
shaking them down for their money, valuables and even their cars. And
these highway outlaws just happen to be members of the Tenaha police
department.
purposes.
However,
law enforcement officials in Tenaha used the money to purchase
a popcorn machine, donated thousands to a youth baseball league and a
Baptist Church, and also cut a check for $10,000 to officer Barry
Washington for “investigative costs.”
from
Judy
Osburn <>
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<fear-list@mapinc.org>
date
Tue, May 19, 2009 at 3:48 PM
subject
FEAR: Forfeiture 101 CLE course on DVD is here!
series of FEAR's clear, concise and informative DVD courses on
substantive forfeiture law and procedure.
Forfeiture 101 is a Continuing Legal Education DVD course that enables
defense attorneys to effectively expand their practices to meet the
needs of the vastly increasing number of victims of the government's
ever-broadening overreach for assets and money judgments.
Lawyers taking on their first forfeiture case suddenly find that law
school never prepared them for the maze of complex proceedings that
strictly adhere to Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Claims
and Asset Forfeiture Actions, further complicated by CAFRA reforms
that apply to some forfeiture proceedings and not to others.
Forfeiture victims will find this DVD to be a godsend – especially
those forced to represent themselves because they can't afford
counsel.
This entertaining and informative two-hour DVD serves as a crash (or
refresher) course in forfeiture law, as well as an interactive
computer research tool. Pop the DVD in your computer and click the
menu for the chapter you need to research. As you listen to a
narrative overview of the issues, you can pause at any time and note
the case and statute citations that appear on the screen accompanying
the narration. Forfeiture 101 is the first in a series of FEAR's
clear, concise and informative DVD courses on substantive forfeiture
law and procedure.
FEAR's Forfeiture 101:
Chapter 1: Dangerous Misconceptions About Forfeiture
Chapter 2: Historical Origins of Forfeiture's Quirky Procedures
Chapter 3: The Ever-Growing Number of Forfeiture Laws
Chapter 4: Defenses Against Forfeiture
Chapter 5: Which Track: Civil or Criminal Forfeiture?
Chapter 6: Civil Forfeiture: A Torturous, Treacherous Trail
Chapter 7: A Fork in the Path: CAFRA or Customs Procedures?
Chapter 8: An Alternate Route: Criminal Forfeiture
© 2009
Click on "What's New at FEAR?" button or link at
www.fear.org
to purchase Forfeiture 101 before July 4 for only $100 plus $8
shipping! Or save even more with FEAR's special introductory
forfeiture package deal:Forfeiture 101 DVD with Asset Forfeiture
Defense Manual, plus a one-year subscription to FEAR's Brief Bank for
only $300 plus $12 shipping.
(Applicable sales tax will be added to California orders).
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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Sent at 9:59 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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date
Fri, May 8, 2009 at 9:59 AM
subject
FEAR: DC: Federal judge denies restraining order
against foreign assets
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
AssetForfeitureWatch
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Federal court ruling creates problems for mutual legal assistance ...
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
AssetForfeitureWatch - USA
by Bruce Zagaris In a ruling that will make it harder for US authorities
to freeze foreign assets that are the subject of forfeiture actions
elsewhere, ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/30xbRl_
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
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Sent at 10:59 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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fear-list@mapinc.org
date
Thu, May 7, 2009 at 10:59 AM
subject
FEAR: TX: Tehana class action lawsuit describes
shakedown tactics
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
ChattahBox - Boston,MA,USA
The Tenaha police department has been getting away with its alleged
highway banditry by misusing the state's asset-forfeiture law, which
allows police to ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/10_
******************************
from
Brenda
Grantland <>
sender-time
Sent at 9:19 PM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
5:11 PM. ✆
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date
Wed, May 6, 2009 at 9:19 PM
subject
FEAR: TX: Tehana authorities agree to return
seized money
of the plaintiffs' seized assets, apparently, but the problem is not
solved. We've heard complaints about Tehana's roadside forfeiture
trap
for a long time. Tehana's policies -- allegedly including racial
profiling, coerced forfeiture waivers and other police misconduct -- are
not going to change without judicial intervention and continued
scrutiny.
FEAR was very encouraged to see Texas attorney David Guillory take up
this cause. We join with him in urging strong public support to
root
out this corruption.
Texas police will return cash in case that prompted lawsuit
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/
05/06/09 10:56 PM, EDT
Authorities who seized $8,500 and assorted jewelry from a Tennessee man
after a traffic stop in east Texas have agreed to return the property
after his case drew attention from CNN.
FULL STORY
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
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from
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date
Tue, May 5, 2009 at 11:31 AM
subject
FEAR: TX: Lawsuit challenges Tehana forfeiture trap
a lawyer has filed suit challenging it. Nacogdoches, Texas lawyer
David
Guillory cites racial profiling, forfeiture waiver agreements coerced by
threats to take away the claimant's children, and other abuses.
The
tiny town of Tehana (population 1,000) came up with some pretty clever
"law enforcement purposes" for its cottage industry:
"Texas law states that the proceeds of any seizures can be
used only
for "official purposes" of district attorney offices and
"for
law-enforcement purposes" by police departments. According
to public
records obtained by CNN using open-records laws, an
account funded
by property forfeitures in Russell's office included $524
for a
popcorn machine, $195 for candy for a poultry festival,
and $400 for
catering.
In addition, Russell donated money to the local chamber of
commerce
and a youth baseball league. A local Baptist church
received two
checks totaling $6,000.
And one check for $10,000 went to Barry Washington, a
Tenaha police
officer whose name has come up in several complaints by
stopped
motorists. The money was paid for "investigative costs,"
the records
state.
Texas police shake down drivers, lawsuit claims
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/
05/05/09 01:19 PM, EDT
Roderick Daniels was traveling through eastern Texas in October 2007
when, he says, he was the victim of a highway robbery.
FULL STORY
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
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Sent at 10:37 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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Tue, May 5, 2009 at 10:37 AM
subject
FEAR: US: World Bank ventures into
forfeiture-mongering
forfeiture". Hawked as better than sliced bread, ncbf (a/k/a civil
forfeiture) dispenses with the annoying need for conviction -- "it can
be the best option when the wrongdoer is dead, has fled the
jurisdiction, is immune from prosecution, or is too powerful to
prosecute." Hmm -- if they're too powerful to prosecute, why
would
they not be powerful enough to avoid non-conviction based
forfeiture?
World Bank to release book outlining best practices for civil ...
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
AssetForfeitureWatch - USA
The book is the first of its kind published by the World Bank and its
release highlights the Bank's increasing focus on asset forfeiture as
the method of ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
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date
Fri, May 1, 2009 at 11:28 AM
subject
FEAR: AZ: Sole custodian of property room
embezzled $450,000
after stealing $450,000 of forfeiture funds. Three years in
prison and
$450,000 in restitution to be paid at the rate of $200 per month after
he is released from prison. At that rate it will take him 187.5
years
to repay it. $200 a month doesn't even pay the interest on such a
large
debt.
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
AssetForfeitureWatch
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Arizona cop sentenced to prison for stealing asset forfeiture funds
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
AssetForfeitureWatch - USA
And Garcia, who was second in command of the department, received all of
South Tucson's forfeiture orders from Arizona Superior Court in Pima
County and ...
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Brenda
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date
Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 10:58 AM
subject
FEAR: FL: $11000 missing from Hernando Sheriff's
evidence room
police evidence room, "The evidence room is frequently staffed by
deputies on light duty, either from injury or because of in-house
investigations." I wonder, would these deputies on light duty due
to
in-house investigations include deputies suspected of theft?
$11000 missing from Hernando sheriff's office evidence room
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Tampa Tribune - Tampa,FL,USA
The money, seized from under a mattress in a drug case, was to be
unsealed by court order for forfeiture. Four of the sums were inside the
envelope, ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
Judy
Osburn <>
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<fear-list@mapinc.org>
date
Mon, Apr 6, 2009 at 9:06 AM
subject
FEAR: Minnesota: A judicial test for property
rights
mailed-by
mapinc.org
state constitution protects innocent owners from forfeiture
http://www.startribune.com/
U0ckkD:aEyKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
A judicial test for property rights
The state Supreme Court will consider whether joint belongings can be
seized
if one spouse is suspected of a crime but the other isn't.
By JASON ADKINS
Last update: April 5, 2009 - 1:00 PM
Today at the Minnesota Supreme Court, government attorneys will argue
that a
jointly owned car can be permanently seized if one spouse uses it while
committing a crime.
The case, Laase vs. 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe, involves the government power
known as civil forfeiture. Civil forfeiture is used by the government to
seize property suspected of being "related" to the commission of a
crime.
The government does not need a conviction to seize the property. An
innocent
owner could lose his property simply because the government produces
evidence that the property was somehow related to a criminal offense.
Today's hearing will be a debate about whether Minnesota's forfeiture
statutes allow the seizure of jointly owned property; the rights of
innocent
owners are not protected by the U.S. Constitution.
In a similar case decided in 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court held in
Bennis vs.
Michigan that the due process of law required by the U.S. Constitution
did
not include an innocent-owner defense to the seizure of property.
The Bennis decision meant that legislatures were free to enact civil
forfeiture statutes without having to take into account the property
owner's
role in the offense. Innocent owners were left to the mercy of state
legislatures and courts. And many states place the burden and expense on
claimants to show they are innocent owners.
The Laase case is significant because the Minnesota Supreme Court has
the
opportunity to rule that such a defense to forfeiture exists under the
state
Constitution. Our state Constitution can provide greater protection for
individual rights than the federal Constitution does.
Let me explain.
. Read the rest of Jason Adkin's commentary in the Star Tribune
at:
http://www.startribune.com/
U0ckkD:aEyKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
Jason Adkins is a staff attorney with the Minnesota Chapter of the
Institute
for Justice.
******************************
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Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 12:02 PM
subject
FEAR: DC: Diverse coalition lobbies Congress re:
HR 146
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
The National Center for Public Policy Research - Washington,DC,USA
We are pleased that the Senate recently improved provisions regarding
forfeiture. Language in earlier versions of the legislation would have
allowed ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/2662L_
******************************
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Judy
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date
Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 8:43 AM
subject
FEAR: Chicago Tribune: Highway robbery? Texas
police seize black motorists' cash, cars
mailed-by
mapinc.org
unconstitutional perversion of the law's intent, aimed primarily at
blacks
who have done nothing wrong.
Tenaha officials "have developed an illegal 'stop and seize' practice of
targeting, stopping, detaining, searching and often seizing property
from
apparently non-white citizens and those traveling with non-white
citizens,"
asserts the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in the
Eastern
District of Texas."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
,0,6051682.story
RACE IN AMERICA
Highway robbery? Texas police seize black motorists' cash, cars
Suit says cops force motorists, largely black, to forfeit cash and
cars-or
be charged with trumped-up crimes
By Howard Witt | Tribune correspondent
March 10, 2009
A Texas senator aims to rein in search-and-seizure practices like those
used
in Tenaha, where scores have been targeted but never charged with any
crime.
(San Antonio Express-News photo by Lisa Sandberg / February 6, 2009)
TENAHA, Texas- You can drive into this dusty fleck of a town near the
Texas-Louisiana border if you're African-American, but you might not be
able
to drive out of it-at least not with your car, your cash, your jewelry
or
other valuables.
That's because the police here allegedly have found a way to strip
motorists, many of them black, of their property without ever charging
them
with a crime. Instead they offer out-of-towners a grim choice:
voluntarily
sign over your belongings to the town, or face felony charges of money
laundering or other serious crimes.
More than 140 people reluctantly accepted that deal from June 2006 to
June
2008, according to court records. Among them were a black grandmother
from
Akron, who surrendered $4,000 in cash after Tenaha police pulled her
over,
and an interracial couple from Houston, who gave up more than $6,000
after
police threatened to seize their children and put them into foster
care, the
court documents show. Neither the grandmother nor the couple were
charged
with any crime.
...[snip]...
But civil rights lawyers call Tenaha's practice something else: highway
robbery. The attorneys have filed a federal class-action lawsuit to stop
what they contend is an unconstitutional perversion of the law's intent,
aimed primarily at blacks who have done nothing wrong.
Tenaha officials "have developed an illegal 'stop and seize' practice of
targeting, stopping, detaining, searching and often seizing property
from
apparently non-white citizens and those traveling with non-white
citizens,"
asserts the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in the
Eastern
District of Texas.
The property seizures are not just happening in Tenaha. In southern
parts of
Texas near the Mexican border, for example, Hispanics allege that they
are
being singled out.
According to a prominent state legislator, police agencies across Texas
are
wielding the asset-forfeiture law more aggressively to supplement their
shrinking operating budgets.
"If used properly, it's a good law-enforcement tool to see that crime
doesn't pay," said state Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate's
Criminal Justice Committee. "But in this instance, where people are
being
pulled over and their property is taken with no charges filed and no
convictions, I think that's theft."
David Guillory, an attorney in Nacogdoches who filed the federal
lawsuit,
said he combed through Shelby County court records from 2006 to 2008 and
discovered nearly 200 cases in which Tenaha police seized cash and
property
from motorists. In about 50 of the cases, suspects were charged with
drug
possession.
But in 147 others, Guillory said the court records showed, police seized
cash, jewelry, cell phones and sometimes even automobiles from
motorists but
never found any contraband or charged them with any crime. Of those,
Guillory said he managed to contact 40 of the motorists directly-and
discovered all but one of them were black.
...[snip]...
Once the motorists were detained, the police and the local Shelby County
district attorney quickly drew up legal papers presenting them with an
option: waive their rights to their cash and property or face felony
charges
for crimes such as money laundering-and the prospect of having to hire a
lawyer and return to Shelby County multiple times to attend court
sessions
to contest the charges.
The process apparently is so routine in Tenaha that Guillory discovered
pre-signed and pre-notarized police affidavits with blank spaces left
for an
officer to describe the property being seized.
Jennifer Boatright, her husband and two young children-a mixed-race
family-were traveling from Houston to visit relatives in east Texas in
April
2007 when Tenaha police pulled them over, alleging that they were
driving in
a left-turn lane.
...[snip]...
"It was give them the money or they were taking our kids," Boatright
said.
"They suggested that we never bring it up again. We figured we better
give
them our cash and get the hell out of there."
...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
,0,6051682.story
******************************
from
Judy
Osburn <>
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Sent at 10:14 AM (GMT-07:00). Current time there:
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<fear-list@mapinc.org>
date
Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 10:14 AM
subject
FEAR: Denver Post: Colorado House Bill 1238 would
repeal asset forfeiture reforms
mailed-by
mapinc.org
opinion
A trick to raise revenue?
By Ed Quillen
...[snip]...
In other words, if you were merely suspected of a crime, or the local
sheriff didn't like something you said at a public meeting and
suspected you
had replaced a P-trap under your kitchen sink without getting a building
permit, the police could seize your property.
Obviously, this procedure is ripe for abuse, and in 2002 Colorado
adopted a
law to prevent such abuses. It requires a criminal conviction before
forfeiture, and protects innocent property owners whose tenants commit
crimes. It requires forfeiture proceeds to go through the regular budget
process, rather than to the policing agency. It has reporting
requirements.
In other words, our current law allows asset forfeiture as a legitimate
tool
of law enforcement, but makes the process fair and open.
But apparently, it doesn't bring in enough money, and thus House Bill
1238,
sponsored by Joe Rice, a Littleton Democrat, would repeal the
requirement
for a conviction as well as the reporting requirement. In other words,
it
allows cops to seize property on mere suspicion and auction it off,
with a
big chunk of the profits going to the "seizing agency."
...[snip]...
******************************
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Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 11:14 AM
subject
FEAR: CO: Opinion: HB 1238 an un-American bill
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Colorado Springs Gazette - Colorado Springs,CO,USA
They responded by passing a bill that increased the standard for
forfeiture to "clear and convincing evidence," which shifted the proof
needed for ...
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<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
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subject
FEAR: CO: Jerry Kopel criticizes HB 1238
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
The Colorado Statesman - Denver,CO,USA
Forfeiture of money and other property is allowed in Colorado in regard
to ALL felonies and some misdemeanors. And that is not the problem. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
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Sent at 10:24 AM (GMT-08:00). Current time there:
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date
Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 10:24 AM
subject
FEAR: Institute for Justice: Supreme Court takes
up forfeiture case
mailed-by
gmail.com
D.C.-based public interest law firm, litigates nationwide on behalf of
individuals whose rights are being violated by government. IJ has won
many
ground-breaking legal victories for forfeiture victims. --Judy O.]
From Institute for Justice senior attorney Scott Bullock, who also
serves on
FEAR's board of directors:
------------------------------
Hello all:
Just wanted to make you aware of the below. We will very probably
be
doing an amicus brief. We will almost certainly do a brief.
From: Scott Bullock
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 11:21 AM
Subject: Forfeiture due process case taken up by the Supreme Court
This morning, the Supreme Court granted cert. in a civil forfeiture case
involving whether property owners have a due process right to a prompt
hearing after property has been seized. The Seventh Circuit held
that
they do have such a right and had some nice language about the
importance of property rights in automobiles:
"The private interest involved, particularly in the seizure of an
automobile, is great. Our society is, for good or not, highly dependent
on the automobile. The hardship posed by the loss of one's means of
transportation, even in a city like Chicago, with a well-developed mass
transportation system, is hard to calculate. It can result in missed
doctor's appointments, missed school, and perhaps most significant of
all, loss of employment. This is bad enough for an owner of an
automobile, who is herself accused of a crime giving rise to the
seizure. But consider the owner of an automobile which is seized because
the driver--not the owner--is the one accused and whose actions cause
the seizure. The innocent owner can be without his car for months or
years without a means to contest the seizure or even to post a bond to
obtain its release. It is hard to see any reason why an automobile, not
needed as evidence, should not be released with a bond or an order
forbidding its disposal. The person from whom cash is seized also has a
strong interest in a hearing, though obviously the posting of a cash
bond for cash is an absurdity.
On the other hand, we recognize the City's interest in being certain
that a vehicle is not destroyed before a court can issue a judgment in
the forfeiture proceedings. We also understand that the preforfeiture
hearing would impose some administrative burden on the City. However,
due process always imposes some burden on a governing entity. We are not
contemplating protracted proceedings, but rather notice to the owner of
the property and a chance, perhaps rather informal, to show that the
property should be released."
Of course, it is never a good sign that the Court agreed to review this
reasonable, pretty limited decision. Nevertheless, it definitely
looks
like the Court is interested in the forfeiture issue again and the case
provides us with a good opportunity to urge the Court to provide
stronger protection for property owners. In our brief, we may
even call
on the Court to overturn its dreadful Bennis decision from the mid-90s.
Due date would probablynot be until late April. The case is
called
Alvarez v. Smith, 08-351, and the Seventh Circuit's decision is at 524
F.3d 834.
******************************
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date
Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 11:24 AM
subject
FEAR: IN: Could the Muncie/McKinney practice be
more widespread?
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Muncie Star Press - Muncie,IN,USA
By LARRY RILEY . February 22, 2009 Delaware Circuit Court 2 Judge
Richard Dailey's rampage against past drug forfeiture procedures may be
shaking up more ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
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from
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Sent at 5:51 PM (GMT-08:00). Current time there:
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date
Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 5:51 PM
subject
FEAR: IN: McKinney & deputy defy court order
to pay back money
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Muncie Star Press - Muncie,IN,USA
Money from civil drug forfeitures had been directed into special funds
for Muncie police and the former Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task
Force. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/98Ex_
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date
Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 10:36 AM
subject
FEAR: PA: Court administrator Sharkey expected to
plead to embezzlement of forfeiture funds
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader - Wilkes Barre,PA,USA
Sharkey would obtain a forfeiture order from a Luzerne County judge, but
failed to file signed forfeiture orders in court records. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
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from
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date
Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 10:35 AM
subject
FEAR: TX: Tehana forfeiture trap extorts
forfeiture waiver agreements
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
ScienceBlogs - USA
Balko links to an article in the San Antonio Express News that
investigates the patterns in asset and cash forfeiture cases in the town
of Tehana, Texas. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/
******************************
from
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date
Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 8:20 AM
subject
FEAR: Muncie, IN: McKinney files appeal of judge's
rulings
mailed-by
mapinc.org
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
14/NEWS01/902140323/1002&ct=
Dz3LpeUg
Muncie Star Press - Muncie,IN,USA
MUNCIE - Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney is again asking an
appeals
court to stop Delaware Circuit Court 2 Judge Richard Dailey from making
him
repay $168,092 in cash
<http://www.thestarpress.com/
attorney fees stemming from drug forfeiture cases [in which the D.A.
bypassed courts in some cases, and collected private contingency fees
for
pursuing forfeitures in civil cases in others].
.
The issues before the Indiana Court of Appeal will be whether Dailey had
jurisdiction to initiate and conduct an investigation into how asset
forfeiture ...
http://www.thestarpress.com/
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/28cX_
******************************
from
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date
Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 11:19 AM
subject
FEAR: IN: Second judge orders McKinney to repay
diverted funds
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Muncie Star Press - Muncie,IN,USA
By arranging to have drug forfeiture money paid out from a drug dealer's
credit union, Prosecutor Mark McKinney violated a judge's freeze order.
...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
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details 2/7/09
|
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<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
North Country Gazette - Chestertown,NY,USA
The Information also seeks the forfeiture of all property obtained with
the embezzled funds. In announcing these charges federal officials
praised the ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
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details 2/2/09
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<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
OCRegister - Santa Ana,CA,USA
So the government wasn't really expecting to reap a hot property, like
these ill-gotten gains shown on the US Marshals Service asset forfeiture
Web page? ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
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details 1/27/09
|
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<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
KOLD-TV - Tucson,AZ,USA
Richard Robles Garcia admits he took the money between 2004 and 2008
while he was in charge of the department's evidence room and asset
forfeiture program. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/16II_
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<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
The Am Law Daily - New York,NY,USA
All of this has the creditors concerned that "a blanket application of
criminal and civil forfeiture provisions...may deprive creditors of
appropriate ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
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details 1/17/09
|
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<http://www.google.com/url?sa=
Muncie Star Press - Muncie,IN,USA
"At the end of the day, civil forfeiture counsel McKinney and Hoffman
had control of forfeited assets and directed where they went," Dailey
wrote. ...
See all stories on this topic
<http://news.google.com/news?
------------------------------
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http://reason.com/blog/show/
Asset Forfeiture Helps the FBI's Gambling, Jewel-Studded Masturbators
Jacob Sullum | January 15, 2009, 2:27pm
The U.S. Justice Department's 2008 report on what happened to assets it
seized includes an intriguing list of items that were placed into use by
various federal agencies instead of being sold off. Among them are the
following assets received by the FBI: a "gambling device" valued at $2 (a
deck of cards?), $120,000 in jewelry (for undercover work?), and $134 in
pornography (for official jack-offs, I guess).
[Thanks to Bruce Mirken at the Marijuana Policy Project for the tip.]
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Rocky Mountain News - Denver,CO,USA
The panel wants legislation relaxing state limits on asset forfeiture,
making it easier for police to seize the property of illegal immigrants
and then sell ...
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belonging to foreign subjects and foreign corporations, it seems
diplomatically dicey enough, but when the forfeiture triggering offenses
occurred in other countries and involved foreign corporations and
foreign individuals, what is the US doing? Is this a further extension
of the concept of the US as international cop, policing the rest of the
world, or is it just a way to bring in forfeiture revenue for the US?
Or both?
How could the US court have jurisdiction? The only link this article
mentions is that some of the money came through US bank accounts - "as
at least one payment to each of the purported consultants was paid from
a US bank account."
According to the article, "This action shows the lengths to which the US
law enforcement will go to recover the proceeds of foreign corruption,
including acts of bribery and money laundering," said US Acting
Assistant Attorney General, Matthew Friedrich."
This is a very wrong-headed new idea. Let's hope that the new Attorney
General puts a kibosh on this new excursion into international
domination. For twenty years the US law enforcement authorities have
pressured other countries to follow the US example in enacting
forfeiture laws, and today almost every country has forfeiture statutes
of their own. Our country does not have any business forfeiting foreign
property for foreign crimes - the countries who are actually harmed are
the ones with jurisdiction over the forfeitures, and should be the
recipients of any forfeiture revenue. If the only involvement was that
some payments were made from US bank accounts, the US banks were not
harmed, and the US was not harmed. The offense did not occur here, and
the court should wisely deny jurisidiction.
US to confiscate USD 3 mn linked to Bangla bribery scandal
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Zee News - Noida,Uttar Pradesh,India
"The forfeiture complaint relates primarily to alleged bribes paid to
Arafat Rahman, the son of the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, in
connection with ...
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Muncie Star Press - Muncie,IN,USA
Dailey's order included 40 CSA cases, and Dailey wants not just attorney
fees returned -- since a court didn't adjudicate cases -- but the entire
forfeiture ...
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