Drew Wilson, a friend of ours who performs and composes electronic music under the stage name Alpaca Music (facebook here), has graciously composed a track as a benefit for Americans for Forfeiture Reform. The track is titled 2720 (Alpaca Remix)…
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Monthly Archives: November 2010
Alpaca for forfeiture reform
Tagged with: Alpaca Music, Drew Wilson, dubstep, electronic music, glitch-hop
Posted in Endorsements
Posted in Endorsements
Pro Libertate on the Camp Zoe seizure
William Grigg of Pro Libertate has an excellent investigative piece up on the seizure of 352 acres of the Camp Zoe festival ground in southeast Missouri. The article contains one of the best overviews of asset forfeiture laws and their…
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Tagged with: Camp Zoe, equitable sharing, Jimmy Tebeau, Pro Libertate, real property forfeitures, William Grigg
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
I-40, Texas’s lucrative forfeiture highway; incentive-compatible forfeiture reform
Via Grits for Breakfast, this story from Janelle Stecklein in the Amarillo Globe-News is a pretty stunning (and accurate) description of the I-40 forfeiture racket: DPS officials said the I-40 corridor, which runs through seven counties in Texas, is one…
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Tagged with: Amarillo Globe-News, equitable sharing, I-40, incentives, Janelle Stecklein, Pete Guither, Smart on Crime, Texas
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
Indiana attorney Paul Ogden sues 78 prosecutors for stealing forfeiture funds
Indiana attorney Paul Ogden of Roberts & Bishop has filed suit against 78 Indiana prosecutors who inappropriately retained millions of dollars in forfeiture money that should have properly gone to an education fund: The Indianapolis Star reported that the lawsuit…
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Tagged with: Chris Gambill, equitable sharing, Indiana, Indianapolis Star, Joe Hogsett, lawsuit, Mark McKinney, Missouri, New Mexico, Paul Ogden, prosecutors
Posted in states
Posted in states
We’d like to take a moment to thank our interns
As a young non-profit engaged in researching and distributing work relevant to a complex and technical legal process, Americans for Forfeiture Reform is indebted to the work of its interns, who assist with many and novel tasks that require time,…
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Missouri Libertarian Party endorses Americans for Forfeiture Reform
Via John Schultz, a member of the Executive and State Committees of the Missouri Libertarian Party: Whereas the platform of the Missouri Libertarian Party states that the party wishes to “Prohibit all jurisdictions from seizing property in connection with an…
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All Your Property Are Belong to Us
Eapen graciously asked me to post my commentary on the Camp Zoe seizure here, and I am happy to oblige. I plan on covering this story thoroughly as it develops, so expect to hear more from me in the future.…
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The one issue to unite them all
When California’s cannabis legalization movement starts channeling East Coast conservatives’ limited government agenda over SWAT raids, particularly one that happened in the Midwest, I am encouraged for America’s future (if not its present).
Columbia Police Department SWAT raids in Columbia, Missouri, 2007-May 2010
In peaceful Columbia, Missouri (pop. 100,000): There have been 106 SWAT raids during the period Jan 2007-May 2010: View SWAT Raids in Columbia, 2007-May 2010 in a larger map And here is what one of them looked like: Oh, and…
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Forfeiture victims: Gena Shade
Gena Shade is a woman who lives in Ray County, Missouri. She has a particularly interesting forfeiture story that I thought I’d share with you today. Gena’s story is interesting, atypical, and a good example of how even when things…
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Forfeiture Bulletin, 11/15/10
From around the nation: In the Indianapolis Star, Heather Gillers and Tim Evans have an excellent piece on the practice of Indiana prosecutors hiring private counsel (sometimes themselves) to litigate civil forfeiture cases in court on a contingency basis. In…
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Tagged with: asset forfeiture, Connecticut, DEA, DHS, Indiana, Indianapolis Star, IRS, Kansas, Missouri, NOAA, Ohio, Riverfront Times, US Attorney
Posted in federal, states
Posted in federal, states
Interview with Carl Bearden and Woody Cozad on the Missouri Minute
Yesterday, I was interviewed by Carl Bearden and Woody Cozad of United for Missouri on civil asset forfeiture. Carl was a Representative in the Missouri Legislature when Missouri first attempted to reform the state forfeiture laws in 2000-2001. You might…
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Tagged with: Carl Bearden, Missouri, United for Missouri, Woody Cozed
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
Speeches from the 2010 Missouri state NORML conference online
Including one by yours truly on…you guessed it…civil asset forfeiture! Other speeches include Radley Balko on SWAT raids, a panel discussion on medical cannabis use hosted by Mark Pedersen, Leonard Hearne of the Univ. of Missouri’s statistics Dept., and Richard…
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Tagged with: AFR, Cannabis Patients Network, civil asset forfeiture, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Mark Pederson, NORML, Radley Balko, Ustream
Posted in Drug War
Posted in Drug War
Speeches by Radley Balko, Richard Newton, more to come!
We are at the 2010 Missouri State NORML Conference this weekend. Here is video from last night’s speeches: Radley Balko, Senior Editor of Reason Magazine, speaks first on Proposition 19, SWAT raids, and civil asset forfeiture. He is followed by…
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The Property Rights Issue at the Heart of Proposition 19 and Why Legalization Alone Won’t End the War on Drugs
This May, Paul Armentano, a prominent figure in the coalition to pass California’s Proposition 19 (legalize and tax cannabis), wrote an essay conclusively titled “Only Marijuana Legalization Will End Shocking Police Raids Like the One in Columbia, Missouri”. Though we…
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Tagged with: California, civil asset forfeiture, drug war, Paul Armentano, Proposition 19, SWAT
Posted in Drug War
Posted in Drug War
North New Jersey or Kabul? You decide!
This is amazing (emphasis mine): Passaic County’s now ready to meet the War on Terror — or a more routine domestic hostage case — with 17,000 pounds of rolling steel, bullet-proof glass, and a machine gun turret. Some members of…
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Tagged with: Bearcat, domestic violence, Homeland Security, overkill, SWAT, tank
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
Posted in Drug War, federal, states
