Civil Asset Forfeiture - Now that it's increasing: Arguments for it as a Net Positive?

If you have a bunch of unregistered guns, ammo, loads of cash and pounds of illegal narcotics hidden in a compartment of your vehicle and the police happen to find it, well it's pretty obviously related to criminal activity.

If you have a registered gun or two, unloaded and properly stored in your trunk, some appropriate ammo away form the guns, some prescription pills and a load of cash, well it isn't some criminal activity, so no need to impound your stuff.

It should be common sense when the cops find some cash and other things in your car or on your property.

a reply to: Devino

This reeks of illegal search and seizure which, I would think, is admissible grounds itself.

State sanctioned theft. They pass a law making it illegal to carry 'too much cash' in your car , Ostensibly trying to thwart the flow of drug money.

That turns into 'profiling', looking for 'suspicious looking' people along hi ways, resulting in vehicle stops and 'under suspicion' vehicle searches for cash that they then confiscate. How much is 'too much' is up to the officer. Who's complaining? Legal hi way robbery, sanctioned by the state.

It begins with legislation authorizing the seizure of 'drug money', and ends up being a stretch of toll road for the average citizen with some vacation money, a birthday gift or bank deposit envelope.

If you do complain , whoops what money, the evidence is 'disappeared'.

Just one example. Another is being left on the side of the road watching your car get towed because you didn't have insurance or registration or current license. Not a criminal act, just missing papers. Impounded, sorry about that. Now you got a court date, the impound fee, storage fee, towing fee, court 'fine' and other costs of reinstating your 'papers'.

You haven't been corrected, they don't care if you are poor or between jobs or behind in payments, they just take your car and leave you standing on the side of the road. Tough s***.

In the Old West it was considered a hanging offense to take a mans horse and leave him on foot. Now they do it By Law, with impunity, across the country, SOP.

Watch Parking Wars on A & E.