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The issue here is that many of the people who have their money and property basically stolen by law enforcement are not charged with a crime and in most cases aren\u2019t criminals. The stolen assets are then auctioned off and the proceeds, in many cases, rolled into that department\u2019s budgets.<\/p>\n
One of the most egregious instances was a recent raid on a safe deposit box facility. The FBI got a warrant to search the premises, then broke into hundreds of safe deposit boxes and confiscated the assets. There are a number issues with this, the main one being that the judge who authorized the warrant specified in the warrant that the FBI had NO authority to break into the safe deposit boxes. They did so anyway and stole over $80 million dollars of cash, precious metals and jewelry. Now congress is once again looking to reign this in. Here are the details from Fox News<\/b><\/a>:<\/p>\n Bipartisan legislation could halt the federal government\u2019s decades-long practice of seizing billions of dollars from Americans who never face criminal charges.<\/strong><\/p>\n “The lawless seizure and \u2018forfeiture\u2019 of people\u2019s private property by police officers is becoming standard operating procedure in many parts of the country,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “We want to restore the presumption of innocence, fair judicial process, and the opportunity to be heard.”\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Now to begin with, I consider Raskin to be lawless himself. He was one of the members of the January 6th Kangaroo Committee, and as far as I\u2019m concerned, is a corrupt member of the Deep State. However, like a broken clock, he can be correct once a day. (Using the 24 hour clock that is)<\/p>\n Raskin and Republican Rep. Tim Walberg reintroduced a bill<\/a>\u00a0on March 9 that would overhaul federal\u00a0civil asset forfeiture\u00a0laws, which allow the government to seize and sometimes keep property<\/a> from citizens who, in many instances, have never been charged with a crime. If passed, the legislation would force agencies to make a case for seizure to a judge, remove financial incentives around forfeiture and raise the level of proof needed to allow for seizures. <\/b><\/p>\n One thing they might try is actually convicting people of breaking the law. As it is now, if some agent decides they want something, they just take it and claim \u201cCriminal proceeds.\u201d It\u2019s almost impossible to get the stolen assets back too.<\/p>\n “Seizing property and handing it over to the government without proof of wrongdoing is fundamentally un-American,” Rep. Tony C\u00e1rdenas, another Democrat who co-sponsored the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, said in a statement. “In the United States, we are innocent until proven guilty, and the government may not seize our property without just cause.”\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n “It\u2019s past time to reform our civil asset forfeiture system and make it fairer for the American people,” he added. It\u2019s time to flat out end civil asset forfeiture.<\/b><\/p>\n One of the things that is bringing this to a head is the raid I mentioned on the safe deposit box company in Kalifornistan. People had their life savings flat out stolen by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Los Angeles resident Linda Martin filed a class-action lawsuit<\/a> against the FBI after her life savings were seized along with $86 million worth of other Americans’ property in a 2021 raid of a safe deposit box company. Despite never being suspected of, charged with or convicted of a crime, Martin has received no indication if her money will ever be returned.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n Not to worry, It won\u2019t be.<\/p>\n “I felt misled. I felt angry,” Martin previously told Fox News. “I’m advocating for just not myself, but for everyone, because there’s a lot of people that don’t know what to do.”<\/strong><\/p>\n My first thought would have been asking the local District Attorney to file criminal charges against the FBI agents and DoJ lawyers who were involved in the raid with Grand Theft and, since they were carrying guns, armed robbery. Since the warrant told them not to break into the boxes, and they did it anyway, that would be proof of intent to break the law. Then I remembered who the DA<\/a> is out there.<\/p>\n An\u00a0Institute for Justice report<\/a> found that 78% of all forfeiture cases processed by the Department of Justice between 2000 and 2019 were administrative, meaning agencies decided to seize property with no judicial oversight. Similarly, 96% of the Treasury Department\u2019s forfeiture cases were administrative, according to the 2020 report. <\/b><\/p>\n Can anyone tell me where that is in any way constitutional? Right off the bat I see this as a violation of both the 4th<\/sup> and 5th<\/sup> amendments.<\/p>\n Fourth Amendment<\/b><\/p>\n 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.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Fifth Amendment<\/b><\/p>\n 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 offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, <\/b><\/i>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<\/u>.<\/u><\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Of course, the criminal class is opposed to losing one of their sources of funding. The last time this came up, we had the incompetent Jeff \u201cSleepy\u201d Sessions saying they needed to be able to commit grand theft.<\/p>\n “Civil asset forfeiture is a key tool that helps law enforcement defund organized crime, take back ill-gotten gains, and prevent new crimes from being committed, and it weakens the criminals and the cartels,” then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in 2017. “Civil asset forfeiture takes the material support of the criminals and instead makes it the material support of law enforcement.” <\/b><\/p>\n In addition to requiring judges to hear forfeiture cases, the bill places the burden of proof on the federal government, requiring “clear and convincing evidence” that seized property<\/a> was linked to criminal activity. It also guarantees legal representation for those fighting to reclaim their assets. <\/b><\/p>\n I consider this to be a good start, but as I\u2019ve said, and as many others have said, you need to convict someone in court before you go after their property. One of the tactics the goons in the DoJ like to do is to make it impossible for a defendant be be able to afford competent legal representation. Stealing all their money<\/span> Seizing or freezing their assets is almost a standard tactic to insure they get a conviction.<\/p>\n The FAIR Act would eliminate the financial incentives around forfeiture cases by depositing any proceeds to the general fund of the Treasury, rather than back to the seizing agency.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n