California forfeiture audits are now available here, from the period 2002-2008. Note the latest available report, 2008, notes $32.7 million as the estimated total value of seizures in California. However, this is not the true total value of 2008 California…
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Monthly Archives: August 2010
California auditor civil forfeiture reports now available
Tagged with: California, democracy, drug war, equitable sharing, freedom, liberty, public records
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
The Indianapolis Star reports on abuses of Indiana’s forfeiture laws
Tim Evans and Heather Gillers have a good investigative piece on Indiana’s civil forfeiture laws in the Indianapolis Star: In Indiana, when police seize cash, luxury cars and other assets from criminal suspects, any proceeds that exceed law enforcements costs…
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In Texas, a prosecutor who went to the casino (with forfeiture money)
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports on the indictment of Joe Frank Garza, the District Attorney for Jim Wells County in South Texas: The Texas Attorney General’s Office has investigated Garza since May 2009 after an audit commissioned by Jim Wells…
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Public Records: Indiana, Missouri, more to come
As part of our work, we’re trying to aggregate data and reports on civil forfeitures around the country. Though much of our published work has focused on Missouri, this is a 50-state problem. In that spirit, here are the first…
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“The incentives for forfeiture abuse are omnipresent…”
Ryan Setliff notes: Capricious asset forfeiture laws and arbitrary regulatory takings in some states encroach upon property rights. It allows police seizure of property in some cases with mere probable cause and destroying any semblance of due process. Many asset…
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Tagged with: California, civil asset forfeiture, incentives, slush fund
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
In Indiana, forfeiture money is supposed to go to education…right?
In Indiana, the civil forfeiture law (Indiana Code 34-24-1) directs that seized property and cash be used to cover the expenses of the seizing law enforcement agency, with the remainder being deposited in the common school fund. Over the past…
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Extortion and civil forfeiture in Saginaw County, Michigan
Charmie Gholson in the July 1, 2010 Midwest Cultivator writes about Ed Boyke, a patient diagnosed by the Mayo Clinic with severe sciatica and in possession of a physician’s recommendation for medical marijuana in Michigan: On April 15, Boyke stepped…
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Civil forfeiture, SWAT raids, and Missouri, redux
The following article was published in the August newsletter of the Boone County Democrats, who graciously allowed me to present this content to their weekly lunch meeting last month. Civil Asset Forfeitures In Missouri, a Sordid History Civil forfeiture is…
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