Stop Taking Innocent Citizen Proterty
December 29 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, Big Govt, Law, Losing FreedomTaking from citizens who aren’t even guilty… Only in Obama’s ‘America’
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WSJ Dec. 28, 2015 6:41 p.m.
There’s plenty not to like in Washington’s recent budget bill, but there’s also encouraging news on property rights and the rule of law. Thanks to a reallocation of funds in the federal budget, the Department of Justice has been forced to stop rewarding state and local cops for seizing the assets of private citizens. In a December 21 letter to law enforcement agencies, Kendall Day of the Criminal Division wrote that the Department is going to defer all “equitable sharing payments.”
This isn’t about seizing ill-gotten gains. The disturbing trend among law enforcers has been to seize assets from people who have never been found guilty. We’ve written about the Institute for Justice’s campaign to help people caught in the net of federal “structuring” laws. Small deposits are taken as proof by the IRS that a business owner is keeping each one under $10,000 to avoid bank reporting requirements. But often the depositors aren’t criminals; they simply don’t want to hold cash. So the government seizes it until they can hire attorneys to prove their innocence.
The feds have also been sharing the seized assets with state and local law enforcers for helping to separate citizens from their property. Even if an activity wasn’t illegal under local law, the locals could still get a cut under the federal “equitable sharing” program. Yes, this is bad for seizure victims. But also for setting enforcement priorities. Local police are supposed to serve their communities, not chase federal payouts to pad their budgets.
Mr. Day also noted that the government “remains committed to the Program” and will look to restart it. Congress should make sure that never happens.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/less-policing-for-profit-1451346079
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