Civil Asset Forfeiture

Rolling Thunder = Organized Crime

searcher said:

Lawsuit Forces Release of Operation Rolling Thunder Records - Institute for Justice

ARLINGTON, Va.—A prolonged dispute over police transparency has ended with the release of incident reports from Operation Rolling Thunder, an annual search-and-seizure blitz on Interstate […]

ij.org

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More on Rolling Thunder..........

Pit Stop Policing Transforms Traffic Violations Into High-Stakes Drug Hunts​

This is part five of Operation Shakedown, a series about heavy-handed traffic enforcement tactics and property seizures in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Click here to read part one.

When officers stopped a Greyhound bus for going 5 mph over the speed limit on Interstate 85 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, they were not interested in traffic enforcement.

The real target was drugs and cash, which the police pursued with factory-like precision. NASCAR pit crews could learn something about speed and efficiency from these experts.

More:

INDIANAPOLIS—Henry and Minh Cheng have crisscrossed the country selling jewelry to small businesses for three decades. They have never done business in Indiana. Yet today they are fighting in Indiana state court to get back more than $42,000 seized from their company’s parcel that was routed through the FedEx shipping hub in Indianapolis.

The assumption that cash = crime is a complete travesty.

Appeals Court OVERTURNS Private Vault Case!​

Jan 24, 2024

Another big win - by the Institute for Justice.
https://ij.org/

19:11

pmbug said:

The assumption that cash = crime is a complete travesty.

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This was enabled by the us supreme court. They are directly responsible for shit like this, and they have the power to end it.

Will they end it..........no.

Technically not CAF, but "conversion". I didn't think starting another thread was worth it though.

Really no need to watch, can listen in one tab, play around the forum in a different tab.

To Serve, Protect, and...Fish for Cash? Bogus Traffic Stops Violate 4th Amendment​

Aug 22, 2024 Beyond the Brief

On a typical day, police officers pull over more than 50,000 drivers. If you’ve had a recent encounter with police, chances are good it was during a traffic stop. Traffic stops can lead to searches, arrests, and worse, yet they seldom involve a [search] warrant. So how did vehicles become Fourth-Amendment-free zones?

Today we are joined by Josh Windham, the leader of IJ’s Project on the Fourth Amendment. We’ll explore how traffic stops are driving a hole through the Fourth Amendment and how IJ is pushing back.

39:27

- Alek’s Video: • WATCH an Illegal Traffic Stop Start t...
- Stephen Lara’s Video (Nevada Highway Patrol): • Watch Cops Seize Combat Vet's Life Sa...

LINKS:

- Tell us your story: https://ij.org/case-intake/warrantles...
- "Know Your Rights" card: https://ij.org/support/give-now/know-...

- Audio (RSS) version of the show: https://ij.org/podcast/beyond-the-brief/

Carrying Cash is NOT a Crime​

Sep 13, 2024

It’s legal to travel domestically with any amount of cash. It’s legal to travel in and out of the U.S. with more than $10k if you declare it. But that doesn’t stop law enforcement from searching travelers’ property and seizing any cash they find without warrants or evidence of a crime.

Today we talk with IJ attorneys Jaba Tsitsuashvili and Ben Field about how the government treats carrying cash like a crime and what IJ’s doing to fight back.

37:23

LINKS:
"Know Your Rights" card: https://ij.org/support/give-now/know-...
Audio (RSS) version of the show: https://ij.org/podcast/beyond-the-brief/
Become a Monthly Donor: https://ij.org/support/give-now/?recu...
Federal Forfeiture Process: https://endforfeiture.com/federalforf...
Stephen Lara’s Video (Nevada Highway Patrol): • Watch Cops Seize Combat Vet's Life Sa...
Kermit’s Case: https://ij.org/case/kermit-warren-for...
Rebecca’s Case: https://ij.org/case/dea-tsa-forfeitures/

While I doubt they'll get anywhere, it'd be nice to see the cops starting to get their dicks knocked in the dirt for a change. Make luau's great again.

LOS ANGELES—At her deposition, an FBI agent described her reaction when she learned that the agency had misplaced dozens of valuable gold coins: “Uh oh.” Now, to resolve lawsuits brought by the Institute for Justice (IJ), the government has agreed to fully compensate property owners who had cash and coins go missing after the FBI raided their safe deposit boxes.

Don Mellein was one of hundreds of safe deposit box holders at US Private Vaults who had his box opened, searched, and subjected to civil forfeiture during an FBI raid in March 2021. A federal appellate court in January held that the entire raid violated the Fourth Amendment. This separate case arose because the FBI failed to return 63 gold coins worth over $166,000. The FBI refused to compensate Don for his lost coins, so he was forced to sue.

Posted a trailer about a movie titled Rebel Ridge bout civil asset forfeiture in the movies thread. You can see it here:


Here's a vid from the Institute for Justice that talks about the movie and civil asset forfeiture.

Rebel Ridge: Yes, police really can take your cash.​

Sep 25, 2024 Beyond the Brief

The film Rebel Ridge came September 6 and shot to #1 on Netflix. It depicts a former Marine’s attempts to get his money back after it was taken by police through civil forfeiture. That story sounded pretty familiar to us at IJ.
We have been working to dismantle civil forfeiture for decades, but unlike the film’s main character, our clients aren’t vigilantes who take the law into their own hands; instead, they fight back in court.
So how accurate is Rebel Ridge’s portrayal of civil forfeiture? To find out, we talk with IJ attorney Kirby Thomas West.

22:44

LINKS:

Stephen Lara’s Video (Nevada Highway Patrol): • Watch Cops Seize Combat Vet's Life Sa...
Detroit Forfeiture: https://ij.org/case/detroit-civil-for...
Audio (RSS) version of the show: https://ij.org/podcast/beyond-the-brief/
Become a Monthly Donor: https://ij.org/support/give-now/?recu...
Federal Forfeiture Process: https://endforfeiture.com/federalforf...

About Beyond the Brief: Hear about the cases, issues, and tactics advancing IJ’s fight for freedom—directly from the people on the front lines. Beyond the Brief explores the legal theories, strategies, and methods IJ uses to bring about real world change, expanding individual liberty and ending abuses of government power. Each episode gives listeners an in-depth, inside look at how—and why—we do what we do.

FBI agent Nicholas Williams admits stealing silver during raid on Jan. 6 defendant Alexander Fan​

An FBI agent has pleaded guilty to stealing from targets during raids and arrests, including from a man who was part of the mob that invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Nicholas Anthony Williams, who worked out of the FBI’s Houston office but is no longer with the bureau, admitted Monday to four thefts while serving search warrants.

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Sal's take.................

Appeals Court rules state must return $225K seized from California man during Brandon traffic stop​

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A California man who had hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash seized from Brandon authorities could soon get his money back.

On Tuesday, the Mississippi Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision to seize $225,000 from Rae Young Chung under the state’s forfeiture laws, saying the state did not “sufficiently prove” the money was subject to being taken.

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Trucker’s $225K Must Be Returned to Him After Civil Forfeiture​

Oct 11, 2024

In Mississippi.

12:28