RICHMOND - Court setback for car confiscations 
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/25/BAG9QNOMEO1.DTL&hw=car+confiscation&sn=001&sc=1000> 

    Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 01/25/07
    A Richmond ordinance allowing police to seize cars that are used to
    solicit prostitution or drug deals is unconstitutional because it
    doesn't entitle the owner to an early hearing to try to reclaim the
    car, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday. The First...

A Richmond ordinance allowing police to seize cars that are used to 
solicit prostitution or drug deals is unconstitutional because it doesn't 
entitle the owner to an early hearing to try to reclaim the car, a state 
appeals court ruled Wednesday. 
The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco noted, however, that 
it's unlikely to have the last word, because the California Supreme Court is 
getting ready to hear multiple constitutional challenges to a similar ordinance 
in Stockton. The high court's ruling will also affect vehicle forfeiture laws 
in Oakland and Los Angeles. 
The Richmond ordinance, passed in January 2003, allows police to seize and 
sell any vehicle based on evidence that it was used to solicit prostitution or 
drugs, with the proceeds divided between police and the city attorney's office 
after lenders are repaid. Before the vehicle is permanently confiscated, the 
former owner is entitled to a jury trial on whether police had legal grounds 
for the seizure. 
Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Steven Austin overturned the 
ordinance in July 2005 on several grounds, including its distribution of the 
sale proceeds, which he found to be a conflict of interest for the police and 
city attorney.  
The appeals court disagreed with Austin on that issue, but said the 
ordinance doesn't guarantee a hearing to the owner until after the police or 
prosecutor's office has filed a notice that the vehicle will be forfeited and 
sold, a period that could last as long as a year. The Constitution entitles an 
owner of seized property to a prompt hearing to challenge the legality of the 
seizure, said Presiding Justice Ignazio Ruvolo in the 3-0 ruling.
E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com

The U.S. Department of Justice, Asset Forfeiture Management Staff (DOJ AFMS), awarded Unisys Corporation a blanket purchase agreement (BPA), under which delivery orders may be issued for continued support of the Consolidated Asset Tracking System (CATS), the company announced today. The eight-year BPA could be worth approximately $112 million to Unisys, if the government orders services at the levels anticipated for the full eight-year term. The government already has issued orders for about $8 million.

CATS tracks, monitors and reports on assets seized and forfeited in the prosecution of criminals and criminal enterprises. Under the contract, Unisys will provide an applications managed services environment for the processing of federally seized and forfeited assets.

As prime contractor, Unisys is responsible for all operations including: systems integration, systems development, engineering, network management, production support services, security and certification services, customer support services, program management, and verification and validation.

This award extends Unisys long-standing program oversight of the DOJ enterprise-wide, multi-agency application and infrastructure. Over the past five years, Unisys modernized all CATS core business applications on schedule and within budget, while maintaining legacy system operations throughout the change process.

Subcontractor Base2 Technologies, which has worked with Unisys for more than 10 years, will continue in partnership on the new contract.

Ten law enforcement agencies participate as users of CATS, including the U.S. Attorney's Offices; the Federal Bureau of Investigations; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Food and Drug Administration; the Asset Forfeiture Money Laundering Section, Criminal Division; the Diplomatic Support Services of the U.S. Department of State; and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. CATS tracks all seized and forfeited assets in the course of law enforcement work that these agencies perform.

“Unisys partnership with DOJ to date has resulted in improved management of this critical program through significant system enhancements. Together with the asset forfeiture management staff, we look forward to continuing to enhance this mission-critical system with the highest levels of security and integrity,” said Ted Davies, managing partner, civilian agencies, Unisys Federal Systems - Unisys.

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