Philadelphia Police Putting Homeowners on the Street

Every time I think I have heard it all when it comes to the abuse of power by Police and the "Justice" system in America...along comes another mind boggler.

Under a process called "Civil Forfeiture", apparently, the State has the right to seize property that it has "probable cause" to believe is somehow involved with an illegal drug transaction.

In the case highlighted in the linked-to video, a couple's son was arrested for possession of $40 worth of heroin...which Police said they believed was for the purposes of distribution (I am not up on the street value of heroin, but that seems like a pretty tiny amount of heroin "inventory").

The Police filed a lawsuit against the kid's parents house - and literally threw his mother, father and two sisters out on the street with no notice. They screwed all of the doors and windows shut and turned off all of the utilities...while taunting the parents that the house was now theirs, and they were going to take sledge hammers to the home.

These people had never been charged with a crime in their lives (and still haven't been), but here was the State throwing them out on the street for a mistake their son made.

That's bad enough, but their only course of appeal of this "without due process" seizure was to the very office that had taken their home from them! The Prosecutors Office took their house...and they had to appeal (not to a judge but) to the Prosecutors Office to try to get it back.

Good luck with that...especially since the proceeds from this city-wide seizure "program" for the most part go directly into a pot for salaries for...Prosecutors and Police. Conflict of interest anyone?

Over 10 years, Philadelphia has seized more than 1,000 homes generating over $60 million in revenue for the City...in 2011 alone, they filed over 6,500 petitions for Civil Forfeiture.

www.surenews.com...

I wonder what this gentleman (by the sounds of his accent, an immigrant from Greece) thinks of the American dream now...

hey....where are all those right-wing, Bundy-ranch, assault rifled, freedom protectors now!!....I know this is shocking but, absent and unheard from!!!!...they should be standing out in front of those 1000's of homes that have been confiscated in Philadelphia.

Well Chicago is West Detroit because of some of these tactics, maybe Philly can be East Detroit?

Sad thing is, this isn't helping the economy, its parting land for developers who plan to "economize it" with high price tags as it sits empty.

That is, unless they are expecting a nice immigrant population.

a reply to: mobiusmale

land of the free , i think not . America you are so screwed and going down hill fast, maybe some other country should invade you and help change the regime , after all isn't that what you do to countries that do not treat their citizens fairly .

Right. They are lying through their teeth, just like they always do. $40 of heroin does not a dealer make. No way no how.

And the police state marches on.

originally posted by: tom.farnhill
a reply to: mobiusmale

land of the free , i think not . America you are so screwed and going down hill fast, maybe some other country should invade you and help change the regime , after all isn't that what you do to countries that do not treat their citizens fairly .

a lot of Americans already realize that, this country is becoming solely run by the uber-wealthy and their corporations...example:...in the MSM, every day in every TV and newspaper location, you'll here about robberies, assaults, murders, etc...by regular people. but, you almost never hear about corporate crimes. those of customer lawsuits, bribery, money laundering, products hurting and killing people, payoffs to officials, destruction of water, air, and property.....the only exception is when the "story" is so full-blown public (like GM deaths, BP explosion and deaths) that it cannot be avoided

S&F to everyone!

Well said. Well explained.

AMEN

originally posted by: jimmyx
hey....where are all those right-wing, Bundy-ranch, assault rifled, freedom protectors now!!....I know this is shocking but, absent and unheard from!!!!...they should be standing out in front of those 1000's of homes that have been confiscated in Philadelphia.

Well if those groups hadn't been criticized, lamblasted, spit on, called cowards, laughed at and cursed at by all the "Left Wing" groups, maybe some help could be arranged.

And remember, Bundy invited those groups to the ranch well in advance of the BLM actions.

Has there been any invitations from Philadelphia?

All these police actions are the blossoming of the authoritarian Progressive agenda.

We were warned. Many laughed. Now many are sad and dejected.

originally posted by: jimmyx
hey....where are all those right-wing, Bundy-ranch, assault rifled, freedom protectors now!!....I know this is shocking but, absent and unheard from!!!!...they should be standing out in front of those 1000's of homes that have been confiscated in Philadelphia.

And where are all the left-wing cry-me-a-river what about the children whiners when these people are being thrown out into the streets? Oh wait...they ARE the ones throwing the people out in the streets...Nevermind...

a reply to: mobiusmale

But... but it's all in the cause on the war on drugs, right?

I saw this video a few days ago on world star, and it really got me thinking how much of a sham the whole war on drugs is and the snake lawyers and politicians taking advantage of petty crimes that seem like they are horrible.
Really 40 dollars of heroine!?

originally posted by: xuenchen

We were warned. Many laughed. Now many are sad and dejected.

And...now many are sad and...ejected

the City of Brotherly Love and the Liberty Bell.

They have gone a long way, down.

$4,000 makes a dealer...

$400 is a weekend getaway...

$40 is a personal party.

Peace