PEOPLE WE SHOULD BE OUTRAGED!!

Today I am outraged and dismayed. I have just read about the Civil Asset Forfeiture laws in America nad how corrupt they are. I want to share with you some quotes from the legal organization www.fear.org this notable group has helped to bring some reform to the dysfunctional and corruption inducing laws regarding civil asset forfieture...read on....
Why do we FEAR asset forfeiture?
Incredible as it sounds, civil asset forfeiture laws allow the government to seize property without charging anyone with a crime. Until FEAR achieved the nation's first major federal forfeiture law reform at the turn of the millenium, the government was allowed to keep whatever property it seized without ever having to prove a case. Seized property was presumed guilty and could be forfeited based upon mere hearsay—even a tip supplied by by an informant who stood to gain up to 25% of the forfeited assets. Owners were forced into the untenable situation of trying to prove a negative—that something never happened, even though no proof of any illegal act had been offered at trial

Newspapers and television stories across the nation documented hundreds of cases of innocent citizens wrongfully deprived of their homes, businesses and livlihoods. Eighty percent of property forfeited to the US during the previous decade was seized from owners who were never even charged with a crime! Over $7 billion has been forfeited to the federal government since 1985. Until the advent of FEAR law enforcement officials promoting expanded forfeiture laws comprised the overwhelming majority of lobbyists at hearings on forfeiture litigation. Meanwhile, prosecutors complained that police were less available to investigate crimes that did not involve forfeiture.

Over 200 federal forfeiture laws are attached to non-drug related crimes. Even a false statement on a loan application can trigger forfeiture. Physicians are subject to forfeiture of their entire assets based on a clerical errors in medicare billing. The government even tried to forfeit a farmer's tractor for allegedly running over an endangered rat.

In April, 2000, FEAR achieved the nation's first major federal forfeiture law reform, the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA). The sponsor of the act, Rep. Henry Hyde, thanked FEAR in the April 11, 2000, congressional record "for their long and dedicated work on behalf of forfeiture reform." Though the final compromised version was stripped of many of the reforms for which we lobbied, for the first time since civil asset forfeiture laws were passed, under CAFRA the government:
must prove its case;
is liable for damages to seized property;<> must return property to owners pending trial when possession would cause substantial hardship;
may no longer require an owner to pay 10% cost bond just to contest the forfeiture in court;
can no longer forfeit property from owners who prove their innocence; and
must appoint counsel to some indigent claimants.
Further changes are still urgently needed at both federal and state levels. Many innocent owners still face the untenable situation of having to prove a negative—that their property was not involved in a crime, or that they had no knowledge of criminal activity. Most owners of seized property still lack the financial resources to even bring their cases to court. endquote

Go to www.fear.org to find out more about the corrup abuse of civil asset forfeiture law. A people who have the courage to stand for truth and justice will prevail. We must be willing to fight for what is right in our country and change what is wrong.

Soon my son will be leaving for Afghanistan. He will work to defend my freedom to fight here at home against the slow drift to tyranny that comes about when the people are not vigilant!!