Civil Forfeiture

http://m.news9.com/story.aspx?story=32168555&catId=112032

You may have heard of civil asset forfeiture.

That's where police can seize property and cash without first proving a person committed a crime; without a warrant and without arresting them,as long as they suspect that the property is somehow tied to a crime.

Now,the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has a device that also allows them to seize money on prepaid cards.

It's called an ERAD,or Electronic Recovery and Access to Data machine,and OHP began using 16 of them last month.

Here's how it works. If a trooper suspects a person may have money tied to some type of crime,the highway patrol can scan and seize money from prepaid cards. OHP stresses troopers do not do this during all traffic stops, only situations where they believe there is probable cause.

"We're gonna look for different factors in the way that you're acting,” Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. John Vincent said. “We're gonna look for if there's a difference in your story. If there's someway that we can prove that you're falsifying information to us about your business."

Troopers insist this isn't just about seizing cash.

"I know that a lot of people are just going to focus on the seizing money. That's a very small thing that' s happening now. The largest part that we have found ... the biggest benefit has been the identity theft," Vincent said.

"If you can prove can prove that you have a legitimate reason to have that money it will be given back to you. And we've done that in the past," Vincent said about any money seized.

State Sen. Kyle Loveless,R-Oklahoma City,said that removes due process and the belief that a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty. He said we've already seen cases in Oklahoma where police are abusing the system.

"We've seen single mom's stuff be taken,a cancer survivor his drugs taken, we saw a Christian band being taken. We've seen innocent people's stuff being taken. We've seen where the money goes and how it's been misspent," Loveless said.

Loveless plans to introduce legislation next session that would require a conviction before any assets could be seized.

"If I had to err on the side of one side versus the other,I would err on the side of the Constitution,” Loveless said. “And I think that's what we need to do."

News 9 obtained a copy of the contract with the state.

It shows the state is paying ERAD Group Inc.,$5,000 for the software and scanners,then 7.7 percent of all the cash forfeited through the courts to the highway patrol.

We live in a militarized police state and the drug war has allowed this outrageous conduct to only grow more outrageous. Before Scalia died, he was cutting back on police abuses, but when people think military air shows are good, and police can do no wrong.....it is a logical step for the sheriff of Nottingham to just directly reach into citizens pockets and steal........the MIC has been doing it for sixty years, and like sheep we take it. We need people to speak up and say enough. Budgets need to be cut. The war on drugs and everybody else to enrich a few needs to stop.

Isn't Oklahoma predominately republican?

I don't give a damn which party does it. Do you think that only one party is treading on our civil liberties?

I could give you a list five pages long of the abuses of forfeiture which I have first hand knowledge. My daughter is now doing civil forfeitures, as a SA, and she is so sick of the over reach by the police she could scream. She tries to be reasonable when not dealing with drug dealing gang bangers, but the war on drugs just allowed the police to get more and more outlandish......we have created a remedy for a problem which has grown to be many fold more harmful to America than the original problem. We are living in a militarized society, and people just are afraid to speak out, but the tide is turning.....good people are saying enough. I have fought this battle for years, and so much of this is state and local that people really can change these abuses. People need to speak up and become involved in local issues. In a community near us the parents finally went to city hall and said they had enough of the police picking on children, and the police chief backed his officers. They were a rural community and had virtually no crime so they justified themselves by turning kids things into crimes.....the mayor was thrown out and the police chief fired, and the budget cut in the police department. Still no crime, kids are being kids, and the people took back their town. The arrogance of the tail waggin the dog is finally very slowly changing, because word spreads and other communities say enough when police try to cannablize the citizens.