Civil Forfeiture And The Supreme Court

Today the Supreme Court Of The United States ruled, 9-0, that the Eighth Amendment protections, including the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, excessive bail, protections against excessive fines, and other government abuses, are all “fundamental to our scheme of ordered liberty” and that states are bound to follow them under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Finally, a step in the right direction on the matter of civil forfeiture, the practice of the government confiscating private property it 'suspects' has been used in a crime without necessarily charging the owners of the property with a crime. To get their property back the owners must prove their property was not involved in a crime. Although plainly unconstitutional, state and local governments use this process to generate money for themselves. I'm amazed that Americans are not outraged by this process.

The Supreme Court ruling does not make the practice illegal but does make sure that any restrictions made on the federal level would also apply to state and local governments. Now all we need is a challenge to civil forfeiture to make it's way to the SCOTUS.

The Supreme Court unanimously says states can’t steal your car

 

Law enforcement agencies have used that for all the wrong reasons for way too long. And, isn't it nice to see one of the three branches of government actually agreeing 'unanimously'?

 

And here in lies the problem... It's still legal. It's still going to be happening, it's not going away.

 

Bingo Mister T. We'll just have an avenue to challenge their abusive behavior and pray to God we can get the Martin Guitar back. I know a lot of people who get stopped in Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, and Wyoming, and here in Indiana, just to get searched.

 

Nice to see RBG back in the saddle, writing the majority opinion for the SCOUS.

 

they take your shit and you have to prove to the court to get it back .. thats a long process ..

 

And in the mean time they could have sold it off at auction... so you never get it back anyways. That scenario is against Federal laws but is used in some localities against "some types" of people.

 

Jon Oliver did a good segment on this. It's just a way for cops to extend the war on drugs. As long as we allow the police to run like a business they will always seek profit (crime). Although the goal is no crime if they have that goal they are unhappy.